IRBA Newsletter Issue 54

Issue 54 | April-June 2021 3 STANDARDS TOPICS COVERED IN THIS ISSUE • Standards: o South Africa’s Launch Event of the IAASB’s Non- Authoritative Guidance on Applying ISAE 3000 (Revised) to Extended External Reporting (EER) Assurance Engagements. o Consultation Paper: Enhancing Disclosures in the Auditor’s Reports in South Africa: Addressing the Needs of Users of Financial Statements. o Exposure Draft: Proposed Conforming and Consequential Amendments to IRBA Pronouncements Arising from the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s Quality Management Standards. o Estate Agency Affairs Board: 2021 Audit Reports Submission Reminder. o Proposed Guide for Registered Auditors: Guidance on Performing Audits on Behalf of the AGSA (Revised May 2021). o IAASB Quality Management Webinar Series. o New IAASB Quality Management Implementation Guides Now Available. o IAASB Projects in Progress. • Ethics: o IESBA Launches the Post-Implementation Review of the Long Association International Independence Standard. o IESBA Global Ethics Webinars on the Non-Assurance Services and Fee-Related Revisions to the IESBA Code of Ethics. o IESBA Projects in Progress. SOUTH AFRICA’S LAUNCH EVENT OF THE IAASB’S NON-AUTHORITATIVE GUIDANCE ON APPLYING ISAE 3000 (REVISED) TO EXTENDED EXTERNAL REPORTING (EER) ASSURANCE ENGAGEMENTS The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) published its Non-Authoritative Guidance on Applying ISAE 3000 (Revised) to Extended External Reporting (EER) Assurance Engagements (the IAASB’s non-authoritative guidance on EER) on 6 April 2021. To raise awareness on this guidance, the IRBA, in collaboration with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, and the University of the Witwatersrand scheduled a webinar on 6 July 2021 for all stakeholders, with the IAASB chairman, Tom Seidenstein, as part of the panel. EER encapsulates many different forms of reporting that include, but are not limited to, sustainability or environmental, social and governance reporting; integrated reporting; reporting on corporate social responsibility; greenhouse gas statements; and service performance reporting in the public sector. These kinds of extended reporting are growing in frequency and importance, and they address matters that are becoming increasingly critical to investors and other users for decision-making. This IAASB’s non-authoritative guidance on EER responds to 10 key stakeholder-identified challenges commonly encountered in applying International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised), Assurance Engagements Other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information. It therefore promotes a consistent high-quality application of ISAE 3000 (Revised) in extended external reporting assurance engagements to: • Strengthen the influence of such engagements on the quality of extended external reporting; • Enhance trust in the resulting assurance reports; and • Increase the credibility of extended external reports, so that they can be trusted and relied upon by their intended users. Further, the IAASB’s non-authoritative guidance on EER addresses a number of overarching matters, including applying appropriate competence and capabilities; exercising professional scepticism and professional judgement; the preconditions for an assurance engagement; and more specific technical matters. It also provides further explanations and examples for users to better understand the distinction between limited assurance and reasonable assurance engagements. The IAASB’s non-authoritative guidance on EER and the additional support material may be downloaded from the IAASB website . COMMITTEE FOR AUDITING STANDARDS (CFAS) Consultation Paper, Enhancing Disclosures in the Auditor’s Reports in South Africa: Addressing the Needs of Users of Financial Statements The IRBA has released the Consultation Paper – Enhancing Disclosures in the Auditor’s Reports in South Africa: Addressing the Needs of Users of Financial Statements (this Consultation Paper), and comments are due on 15 September 2021. The purpose of this Consultation Paper is for the CFAS to gather perspectives from stakeholders about the need and options for additional disclosures in the independent auditor’s report for an audit of financial statements. The information collected will help make informed decisions about possible outcomes that arise from the consultation in the public interest. Audit quality and the restoration of public confidence in the audit is the focus of the IRBA’s audit reform strategy. The audit report is a key communication tool between the auditor and stakeholders; and for many stakeholders, an auditor’s report may be the only communication with the auditor. Therefore, enhancing the value of the audit report as a communication tool could increase confidence in audits and contribute to enhancing audit quality. Audit regulators and national standard setters around the world have similar