United Kingdom: Preparing for your audit in a post-Covid world

The role of the auditor has been under increasing scrutiny over the past few years after some high-profile collapses. If anything, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has served to bring that into an even sharper focus. At the same time, new auditing standards, ISA 540 on Accounting Estimates and ISA 570 on Going Concern, have been issued to provide further clarity on the responsibilities of auditors and the expectations of both auditors and company directors. These new standards focus further on the requirements of the auditor to sufficiently challenge management assertions and representations and demonstrate sufficient scepticism.

Given these changes, company directors may be left wondering how these changes will affect their company, particularly their first post-COVID audit. Our conversation with Corporate Partner, Darren Amott, may help to address any pressing questions they may have in this respect.

In this video, Darren talks about the changes occurring in the audit world and the potential impact of COVID-19 on company financial statements and the audit report. He also provides advice on how best to prepare for your upcoming audit and the additional questions you can expect from your auditor.

We always recommend that you seek advice from a suitably qualified adviser before taking any action. The information in this article only serves as a guide. The authors or the firm can accept no responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action due to this material.