Questions and answers on group audits
The audit of groups can create challenges and raise difficult issues for group auditors, even when they audit every group component. Set out below is a selection of questions and answers to help steer auditors through their audits of groups of companies.
A In short, yes. However, the vast majority of issues that group auditors need to address will be very straightforward for you. As you have audited all group components it is very easy to satisfy yourself that you have sufficient appropriate audit evidence for the purposes of auditing the group financial statements.
What is sometimes forgotten in these situations is the documentation of the auditor’s understanding of the group and a risk assessment at group level. This is needed in addition to work on the holding company and components of the group. In this regard, auditing a group is different from auditing a number of separate companies. Looking at the big picture might reveal risks that could not be seen at component level. This would usually be documented with the audit work on the consolidation.
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