ISA ISA Baby: ISA (UK) 200
“ISA ISA Baby” is a monthly blog series focused on each of the UK ISAs: their key features, our own musings and some of the pitfalls we see through our audit file reviews and technical query FAQs. Oh and to keep your interest, each blog will end with an ‘interesting’ fact about the one and only Vanilla Ice…..
A long, long time ago in an FRC office far far away…
Let’s start at the very beginning (it’s a very good place to start!) What is the first ISA (UK) in the series and what’s it all about? If you knew the answer straight away without having to think about - well done, ten points to you! I have to admit that even as a self-confessed technical geek, I didn’t have a clue what the first ISA was. I had a stab in the dark at ISA 220, I certainly couldn’t think of any starting with 100. And well, clearly I was wrong, it’s ISA (UK) 200 (as you probably guessed from the title of this post). It makes more much sense to start at 200 than 220 (we’re all allowed to be wrong occasionally, right?)
OK, let’s get cracking…
ISA (UK) 200 in a nutshell
ISA (UK) 200’s full title is Overall Objectives of the Independent Auditor and the Conduct of an Audit in Accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK). Phew!
As a 30-page long introductory standard, it’s not a short and snappy ‘let’s get them hooked’ type first chapter that you might expect from the latest Lee Child book - but it does really underpin the broad reasons for why we are doing an audit and how that work should be conducted.
Its key points/requirements are that the auditor will:
Comply with relevant ethical requirements
Plan and perform the work with professional scepticism
Exercise professional judgement in planning and performing the work
Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support conclusions
Conduct the audit in accordance with all other ISAs (UK).
Our thoughts
That final point is rather broad but at the same time all encompassing. It makes it crystal clear that, as an auditor, you do need to understand all ISAs (UK) in issue, the requirements therein, the objectives and the application guidance.
Really, that’s the crux of this very first ISA: it’s a starting point, a backdrop to the audit process. There is a lot of application guidance supporting it and actually, for anyone relatively new to audit, it’s really useful and might help them properly understand the purpose of the work, the rationale for the questioning mindset and why they have to fill in all those forms!
Furthermore, with all the current noise around the need for more judgement and application of professional scepticism, the application notes around these areas are a useful refresher for all team members from juniors up to RIs. So go on, buckle up, make yourself comfortable and enjoy the ride!
Vanilla Ice fun fact: Vanilla Ice has long been interested in horse racing and narrated a BBC-produced narrative podcast about the disappearance of the stallion Shergar, which was stolen at gunpoint in 1983.
