All audit firms are reminded of the April 2025 deadline for compliance with new provisions in the current Audit Regulations and the prospect of other changes during 2025.
After UK Audit Regulations and Guidance were updated during 2023, the changes were staggered to give professional bodies time to consult with members and to give affected firms time to adapt and to ensure compliance with certain new provisions.
UK Audit Regulations are held jointly by ICAEW with the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland (ICAS) and Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI), and all three boards need to approve any amendments before they are published.
The current UK Audit Regulations and Guidance came into effect on 1 October 2024.
All firms need to be aware of what will be required for compliance from 1 April 2025 and how their firm may be impacted by subsequent changes expected later in the year. Sole traders may be unaffected by changes that come into effect from 1 April 2025, but some of the changes that are expected later in 2025 are specific to sole traders.
All firms need to be aware of what will be required for compliance from 1 April 2025 and how their firm may be impacted by subsequent changes
The ICAEW Audit Regulations and Guidance hub pages will offer up-to-date information and links to details on what’s required, when and why during 2025.
An urgent reminder
From 1 April 2025 firms must comply with changes that relate to the control of an audit firm and its eligibility to be registered to carry out audit work.
Learn more about key aspects of these changes and all the necessary steps to ensure your firm will continue to be eligible for audit registration after 1 April 2025.
Use this online tool to check your firm’s current audit eligibility and to monitor this if you have or are considering making changes to your firm’s structure. Individual ICAEW members can also check by mailing AQ@icaew.com
Later in 2025
More changes are expected to UK Audit Regulations and Guidance during 2025 affecting movements of audits and the mandatory appointment of an alternate for all audit sole practices.
Following a consultation process, the ICAEW Regulatory Board (IRB) will be asked to approve updated Audit Regulations at its March 2025 meeting.
The revised regulations will:
- introduce a notification requirement for registered audit firms when they are appointed to audits that are potentially complex or high risk; and
- include a requirement for sole practice auditors to appoint an emergency alternate.
More information on the details can be found in a February 2025 article from ICAEW’s Professional Standards Department.
If approved by ICAEW’s IRB as well as by ICAS and the CAI, the requirement to notify the Registration Committee about certain complex or high-risk appointments is expected to come into force from 1 June 2025. Details of the notification process, including detailed guidance on the type of clients that need to be notified to the Registration Committee and information on how and when to submit notifications, will be included on ICAEW’s Audit Regulations and Guidance hub pages.
There will be a further six-month transition period for a sole practitioner to appoint an alternate. With an expected effective date for the revised Audit Regulations of 1 June 2025, this would give sole practice auditors until 1 December 2025 to appoint an alternate.
As mentioned earlier in this article, the latest information on developments can be found on ICAEW’s Audit Regulations and Guidance hub pages – these include details of the notification process, including detailed guidance on the type of clients that need to be notified to the Registration Committee and information on how and when to submit notifications.
