Amendments to ISA 800 and 805

In September 2014, the IAASB unanimously approved its new and revised Auditor Reporting standards and related conforming amendments. These standards were released in January 2015 and are effective for audits of financial statements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2016.

In finalizing these standards, the IAASB agreed that it would be in the public interest to consider how the changes in the new and revised Auditor Reporting standards affect ISA 800 and 805. The amendments to ISA 810, Engagements to Report on Summary Financial Statements, will be made in a separate project because of the nature of an engagement to report on summary financial was substantively different from an engagement to report on audited financial statements.

At its December 2014 meeting, the IAASB approved the text of proposed ISA 800 (Revised) and proposed ISA 805 (Revised) for exposure. The proposed amendments were limited to reporting only, and were not intended to substantively change the underlying premise of audits of financial statements prepared in accordance with a special purpose framework (i.e., engagements to which ISA 800 applies), or audits of single financial statements and audits of a specific element, account or item of a financial statement (i.e., engagements to which ISA 805 applies).