Guide for audit firms on transparency reports
29 Jun 09
The Professional Oversight Board has published guidance material for those audit firms required to publish a statutory Transparency Report in 2009
Director of the Oversight Board, Paul George, said: “We were pleased that seven of the largest audit firms published transparency reports on a voluntary basis in 2008. However, there are significant differences of approach, content and level of detail.
“While we have no wish to press audit firms to follow a detailed template, we want the reports to be genuinely informative and meet the spirit as well as the letter of the statutory requirements.
“With this in mind, we think that it is helpful to provide an analysis of the 2008 reports and to put forward points that we would like the relevant firms to consider carefully in finalising their 2009 Reports.
“The note provides a simple analysis of the information firms provided in their 2008 voluntary reports; it indicates where we consider that the reports fall short of the requirements for statutory reports and draws out a number of specific points that we want firms to consider carefully in finalising their 2009 Reports.”
It also comments on the extent to which the firms have drawn on the audit quality framework, published by the FRC in 2008 in preparing their transparency reports.