The Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) recently expressed disappointment at the quality of audits conducted on public interest entities in 2023.
The IAASA's 2023 quality assurance review found that 23% of audit files inspected needed improvement, up from 11% in 2022. "The results of the 2023 inspections are disappointing," said Kevin Prendergast, CEO of the IAASA. “[C]learly there is work to be done to improve the consistency of performance. We expect audit firms to carry out a robust root cause analysis to address the issues identified.”
The inspection included an assessment of the design of firms' quality management systems, and an evaluation of how firms set quality objectives and identify risks to their audit quality. The IAASA's review revealed consistent issues in areas such as financial statement disclosure review, audit of related party transactions, and communication with those charged with governance of audit quality.
The IAASA takes a risk-based approach to identifying where there is the greatest risk for poor audit performance. As such, "the results are not representative of the quality of all audits performed," Prendergast said.
Last year, Starling published "Renal Failure: A Crisis in Audit Culture?," a Deeper Dive report into global concerns surrounding audit quality and professional conduct.
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