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The Auditing Standards Board (AuSB) has recently released a new series of Australian Auditing Standards (AUSs) that will replace the existing Statement of Auditing Standards AUS 1 and Statements of Auditing Practice (AUPs). The AUSs contain and "codify" the mandatory basic principles and essential procedures to be complied with in the conduct of an audit, together with related guidance. The AuSB has also released a series of Auditing Guidance Statements (AGSs) to replace the existing Auditing Guidance Releases (AUGs).
Information about the responsibility of members of the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants (the accounting bodies) in Australia for compliance with the AUSs and AGSs is found in a new Miscellaneous Professional Statement APS 1.1 "Conformity with Auditing Standards" issued by the national councils of the accounting bodies.
DEVELOPING THE NEW STANDARDS
The auditing section of the members' handbooks of the accounting bodies currently contains "two tiers" of authoritative professional guidance.
Statement of Auditing Standards AUS 1 prescribes the basic principles of audit conduct and performance which govern the professional responsibilities of an auditor. The auditing standards as prescribed in AUS 1 are applicable to all audits and are mandatory for members of the Accounting Bodies, and have this authority by virtue of their approval by the National Councils.
Statements of Auditing Practice (AUPs), while not mandatory, describe the practices to be adopted in fulfilling the standards of conduct prescribed by AUS 1, and are designated as "authoritative guidance".
The new Auditing Standards will replace AUS 1 and the AUPs.
The AuSB chose to base their review of AUS 1 and the AUPs on the "codification" of principles undertaken by the International Auditing Practices Committee (IPAC). This decision also continues the AuSB policy of ensuring that, to the extent practicable under Australian conditions, the AUSs are internationally compatible.
The objective of the AuSB's "codification" is to identify, review and update the basic principles and essential procedures in each statement with which auditors are required to comply in the conduct of an...