Activity Report 2015

12
Financial Audit | FAOA 2015
Figure 2
Type and number of findings from the 2015 file reviews
at the five largest audit firms (total 43 Findings)
Quality control for an audit (ISA 220)
1
Various other findings
Materiality (ISA 320)
Fraud (ISA 240)
Audit evidence (ISA 500-530)
Estimates (ISA 540)
2
3
3
4
8
9
13
Risk assessment and related response (ISA 300f.)
Using the work of others (ISA 600 - 620)
In the reporting year the FAOA identified
the most findings in the areas
of «using the work of others», «risk
assessment and related response»
and «estimates». The most common
findings within the «using the work of
others» category were in the areas of
group audit (ISA 600) and using the
work of internal auditors (ISA 610).
Reference is made in this regard to
sections «Component coverage» and
«Using the work of internal auditors».
Insufficient professional scepticism
and the failure to identify and respond
to risks of material misstatement are
often the cause of deficiencies, respectively
FAOA findings. If the audit team
fails to identify risks of material misstatement
appropriately during the planning
phase the quality of its responses
to those risks cannot be sufficient. The
informative value of the resulting audit
evidence is limited as a result.
If the auditor intends to rely upon the
effectiveness of general IT and application
controls these controls must be
tested adequately. If not, the auditor
cannot rely upon systems-generated
documents that, in turn, serve as the
basis for the audit of different audit
areas. In part, however, reliance was
placed on IT and application controls
without sufficient testing. It was
further neglected to assess the risk of
unauthorised access to data and functions
in some cases.
FAOA findings with respect to the
audit of estimates relate primarily
to the positions goodwill and other
intangible assets. Contrary to auditing
standard requirements, several
engagement teams obtained insufficient
appropriate audit evidence to
assess the estimates and assumptions
of management. This also includes,
for example, making a critical assessment
of prior year business plan assumptions.
Figure 3
Type and number of findings from the 2015 file reviews at the smaller audit firms
(total 15 Findings)
Using the work of others (ISA 600 - 620)
1
3
5
Fraud (ISA 240)
6
Audit evidence (ISA 500-530)
Risk assessment and related response (ISA 300f.)