What is the term used to identify the risk that the clients financial statement may be materially false and misleading?
Relevant to Papers FAU, F8 and P7 Show This article outlines and explains the concept of audit risk, making reference to the key auditing standards which give guidance to auditors about risk assessment Identifying and assessing audit risk is a key part of the audit process, and ISA 315, Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement Through Understanding the Entity and Its Environment, gives extensive guidance to auditors about audit risk assessment. The purpose of this article is to give summary guidance to Paper FAU, Paper F8 and P7 students about the concept of audit risk. All subsequent references in this article to the standard will be stated simply as ISA 315, although ISA 315 is a ‘redrafted’ standard, in accordance with the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) Clarity Project. For further details on the IAASB Clarity Project, read the article 'The IAASB Clarity Project' (see 'Related links'). WHAT IS AUDIT RISK?According to the IAASB Glossary of Terms (1), audit risk is defined as follows: ‘The risk that the auditor expresses an inappropriate audit opinion when the financial statements are materially misstated. Audit risk is a function of material misstatement and detection risk.’ WHY IS AUDIT RISK SO IMPORTANT TO AUDITORS?Audit risk is fundamental to the audit process because auditors cannot and do not attempt to check all transactions. Students should refer to any published accounts of large companies and think about the vast number of transactions in a statement of comprehensive income and a statement of financial position. It would be impossible to check all of these transactions, and no one would be prepared to pay for the auditors to do so, hence the importance of the risk‑based approach toward auditing. Traditionally, auditors have used a risk-based approach in order to minimise the chance of giving an inappropriate audit opinion, and audits conducted in accordance with ISAs must follow the risk‑based approach, which should also help to ensure that audit work is carried out efficiently, using the most effective tests based on the audit risk assessment. Auditors should direct audit work to the key risks (sometimes also described as significant risks), where it is more likely that errors in transactions and balances will lead to a material misstatement in the financial statements. It would be inefficient to address insignificant risks in a high level of detail, and whether a risk is classified as a key risk or not is a matter of judgment for the auditor. RELEVANT ISAsThere are many references throughout the ISAs to audit risk, but perhaps the two most important audit risk-related ISAs are as follows: ISA 200, Overall Objectives of the Independent Auditor and the Conduct of an Audit in Accordance with ISAs ISA 315, Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement Through Understanding the Entity and Its Environment The requirements of ISA 315 are summarised in the following table. Let us
consider each of these four stages in more detail. 1. Risk assessment procedures Making inquiries of management and others within the entity Analytical procedures Observation and inspection ISA 315 requires that risk assessment procedures should, at a minimum, comprise a combination of the above three procedures, and the standard also requires that the engagement partner and other key engagement team members should discuss the susceptibility of the entity’s financial statements to material misstatement. Key risks can be identified at any stage of the audit process, and ISA 315 requires that the engagement partner should also determine which matters are to be communicated to those engagement team members not involved in the discussion. 2. Understanding an entity 3. Identification and assessment of significant risks and the risks of material misstatement
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