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This section explains
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Office |
Annual Audit |
Performance Audit, Special Examination, and Other Assurance Engagements |
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Completion of the Assembly of Final Engagement Files CSQC 1.45 The firm shall establish policies and procedures for engagement teams to complete the assembly of final engagement files on a timely basis after the engagement reports have been finalized. (Ref: Para. A54-A55) Completion of the Assembly of Final Engagement Files (Ref: Para. 45) CSQC 1.A54 Law or regulation may prescribe the time limits by which the assembly of final engagement files for specific types of engagement is to be completed. Where no such time limits are prescribed in law or regulation, paragraph 45 requires the firm to establish time limits that reflect the need to complete the assembly of final engagement files on a timely basis. In the case of an audit, for example, such a time limit would ordinarily not be more than 60 days after the date of the auditor's report. CSQC 1.A55 Where two or more different reports are issued in respect of the same subject matter information of an entity, the firm's policies and procedures relating to time limits for the assembly of final engagement files address each report as if it were for a separate engagement. This may, for example, be the case when the firm issues an auditor's report on a component's financial information for group consolidation purposes and, at a subsequent date, an auditor's report on the same financial information for statutory purposes. |
Assembly of the Final Audit File CAS 230.14 The auditor shall assemble the audit documentation in an audit file and complete the administrative process of assembling the final audit file on a timely basis after the date of the auditor's report. (Ref: Para. A21-A22) Assembly of the Final Audit File (Ref: Para. 14-16) CAS 230.A21 CSQC 1 (or requirements that are at least as demanding) requires firms to establish policies and procedures for the timely completion of the assembly of audit files. An appropriate time limit within which to complete the assembly of the final audit file is ordinarily not more than 60 days after the date of the auditor's report. CAS 230.A22 The completion of the assembly of the final audit file after the date of the auditor's report is an administrative process that does not involve the performance of new audit procedures or the drawing of new conclusions. Changes may, however, be made to the audit documentation during the final assembly process if they are administrative in nature. Examples of such changes include:
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CSAE 3001.84 The practitioner shall assemble the engagement documentation in an engagement file and complete the administrative process of assembling the final engagement file on a timely basis after the date of the assurance report. (Ref: Para. A203-A204) CSAE 3001.A203 CSQC 1 (or other professional requirements, or requirements in law or regulation that are at least as demanding as CSQC 1) requires firms to establish policies and procedures for the timely completion of the assembly of engagement files. An appropriate time limit within which to complete the assembly of the final engagement file is ordinarily not more than 60 days after the date of the assurance report. CSAE 3001.A204 The completion of the assembly of the final engagement file after the date of the assurance report is an administrative process that does not involve the performance of new procedures or the drawing of new conclusions. Changes may, however, be made to the documentation during the final assembly process if they are administrative in nature. Examples of such changes include:
CSAE 3001.85 After the assembly of the final engagement file has been completed, the practitioner shall not delete or discard engagement documentation of any nature before the end of its retention period. (Ref: Para. A205) CSAE 3001.A205 CSQC 1 (or other requirements that are at least as demanding as CSQC 1) requires firms to establish policies and procedures for the retention of engagement documentation. The retention period for assurance engagements ordinarily is no shorter than five years from the date of the assurance report. |
The engagement leader shall ensure complete and final audit file documentation (paper and electronic) is assembled and finalized within 60 calendar days after the date of the assurance engagement report (financial audit and special examinations) or within 60 days of the date of tabling (performance audits). [Nov-2011]
The “finalization date” for final assembly of audit documentation is 60 calendar days after the date of an assurance engagement report. However, given the potential for large time gaps between the date of issuance of a special examination report and tabling of the special examination report in an Auditor General report, special examinations are subject to two final assembly periods. The first final assembly period is 60 calendar days after the date of the special examination report. A second final assembly period may be used, when needed, to capture documentation associated with tabling the special examination report. Performance audit final assembly of audit documentation shall occur within 60 calendar days after the date of tabling.
Each 60-calendar-day period is a “final assembly period.” The final assembly of an audit file is completed within the final assembly period and before the finalization date. Before finalizing the audit file, teams should review it for completeness and remove or delete items that are not part of final audit documentation.
Teams provide evidence of completion of audit file assembly by wrapping up and finalizing the audit file. The “finalization date” is evidenced, for the purposes of complying with the above policy, by the archive date for electronic files in the audit working paper software and by the date stamp when paper files are received by Information and Records Management. Finalizing the file is important to enable the Office to retain a final record of the procedures performed, evidence obtained, and conclusions reached. Finalizing ensures that only the final audit file, with all coaching notes resolved and deleted, is used by a subsequent audit or as future reference.
While a second final assembly period may apply in the case of a special examination, audit teams shall consider and administer the first final assembly period as instructed above. Where a second final assembly period is needed to document tabling activities, the engagement leader shall authorize the reopening of the file finalized in the first final assembly period.
The Guidance on Managing Audit Records and the Electronic Mail Management Policy provide guidance on how teams should complete and finalize documentation.
OAG Audit 1192 Confidentiality, safe custody, integrity, accessibility, and retrievability of engagement documentation provides guidance concerning removing passwords or encryption before saving files in PROxI or in the audit working paper software.
The final assembly period for performance audits and special examinations recognize the unique aspects and activities of their reporting process that are documented in the audit file up to and after the date of tabling.
Audit files in the audit working paper software should not be held open beyond the finalization date for any items that, although important, are not directly related to the issuance of an audit report, a special examination report, or a chapter. For example, teams do not request a final assembly period extension to keep an audit file open for a final management letter or to include minutes of a parliamentary hearing held subsequent to tabling.
If matters such as the review of an entity’s annual report or Internet disclosure are still outstanding at the 60-calendar-day finalization deadline, teams can note in the audit working paper software where they will document evidence of the procedures (for example, in many recurring audits, the evidence is documented in the following year’s audit file).
In the unusual circumstance where teams require a final assembly period extension to document matters that have no impact on the assurance engagement report, they need to obtain and document approval of the extension from the engagement leader.
CAS 230.A22 and CSAE 3001.A204 discusses examples of administrative changes. In addition to the examples provided in CAS 230 and CSAE 3001, the following illustrative examples would also be administrative changes:
Adding original confirmations previously received by fax or email
Deleting coaching notes
Organizing the external hardcopy paper file to include audit evidence obtained before the date of the auditor’s report/assurance report
Transferring correspondence items containing audit evidence obtained before the date of the auditor’s report/assurance report, into the audit file.
Removing or replacing broken links in the audit file.
Adding electronic documents produced outside of the audit working paper software that include evidence obtained before the auditor’s report date/assurance report
Creating a link to documents or deleting them if they are not part of the final audit documentation.
Resolving replication conflicts in the audit working paper software.
When we obtained audit evidence before the date of the auditor’s report/assurance report but document this audit evidence after the date of the auditor’s report/assurance report, or we make substantive changes to documentation that existed at the date of the auditor’s report/assurance report, we record clearly in each procedure modified:
What information was added or changed;
When the evidence was obtained;
The reason for adding or changing the information;
On what date the information was added or changed;
When the conclusions in respect of the new information were approved by the team manager and/or engagement leader; and
For financial audits, we also update the procedure “Engagement leader and team manager – Completion sign-off” in order to document confirmation that all documentation has been finalized and clearly shows when the evidence was obtained, when the conclusions in respect of it were approved, and all modifications to audit documentation completed after the date of the auditor’s report include details of the specific reason for making such changes. This procedure would need to be marked as reviewed by the team manager and engagement leader again, as appropriate.
Although not required to record the above information for other administrative changes made after the report date, we may still elect to indicate what the changes were as a way of documenting that a more significant change has not been made to the audit file.