About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

A88702 1 (2005-08-02)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadvwq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: im j , G A 0 Comptroller General . .Accountability * Integrity Reliability of the United States United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 August 2, 2005 Mr. James M. Sylph Technical Director International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board 545 Fifth Avenue, 14thFoor New York, NY 10017 Subject: Proposed International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 600, The Audit of Group Financial Statements Dear Mr. Sylph: This letter provides the U.S. Government Accountability Office's (GAO) comments on the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board's (JAASB) proposed ISA 600, which was issued in March 2005. We have a serious concern about whether this proposed standard is viable in audits of large, complex, and diverse entities, whether in the public or private sector. We also have particular concerns about the implications for large public sector entities, such as national and state governments. The absence of alternatives could serve as a significant disincentive to large public entities that might otherwise want to adopt JAASB standards. We understand from discussions with JAASB staff that the JAASB's intent is to not allow reference to other auditors in the group auditors' report. We are very concerned that the proposed standard does not clearly articulate this important issue. More importantly, we strongly disagree with the JAASB's position on this matter, since we believe that the flexibility to refer to another auditor in the group auditors' report is essential to preserving transparency to the users of group financial statements, maximizing audit efficiency, and providing auditors and audited entities with practical options, especially when entities are large, complex, and diverse in nature, including national governments. Standards in the United States promulgated by the Government Accounting Standards Board and similarly by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board define the criteria for components that are to be included in the financial statements of federal, state, or local government financial reporting entities. This has resulted in the frequent inclusion of components whose financial statements are audited due to legislative or other requirements by auditors other than the principal auditor engaged by the group financial reporting entity. Also, certain U.S. federal departments and agencies and a number of state and local governments require that the auditor proposing to perform audits of the group

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most