Objective
Objective
The objective of this project was to redraft the close off document of ISA 800 (Revised), Special Considerations - Audits of Special Purpose Financial Statements and Elements, Accounts or Items of a Financial Statement, in accordance with the clarity drafting conventions agreed by the IAASB to be applied to all ISAs.
Background
In June 2005, the IAASB issued an exposure draft of proposed ISA 701, The Independent Auditor's Report on Other Historical Financial Information.
The IAASB gave due consideration to the comments received on the proposed ISA. The basis for the IAASB's conclusions is explained in the Basis for Conclusions: Close Off Document - ISA 800 (Revised).
The IAASB approved the close off document of ISA 800 (Revised) (i.e., following the IAASB's current drafting conventions) in October 2006. That document incorporates the changes based on the comments received on the June 2005 exposure draft.
Task Force progress / Board discussions to date
The close off document of ISA 800 (Revised) was redrafted in accordance with the clarity drafting conventions agreed by the IAASB to be applied to all ISAs. In July 2007, the IAASB approved an exposure draft of proposed ISA 800 (Revised and Redrafted), Special Considerations - Audits of Special Purpose Financial Statements and Elements, Accounts or Items of a Financial Statement.
Forty-one comment letters were received on the exposure draft of proposed ISA 800 (Revised and Redrafted). Overall, respondents were in agreement with the application of the clarity conventions.
Based on comments received on the respective scopes of the exposure draft of proposed ISA 700 (Redrafted) and the exposure draft of proposed ISA 800 (Revised and Redrafted), the Task Forces recommended the following:
- The scope of ISA 700 (Redrafted) should be limited to complete sets of general purpose financial statements. They may be prepared in accordance with a fair presentation or compliance framework. The title of ISA 700 (Redrafted) should be Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements.
- ISA 800 (Revised and Redrafted) should deal with special considerations in audits of complete sets of financial statements prepared in accordance with special purpose frameworks. Such frameworks may be fair presentation or compliance frameworks.
- Lastly, special considerations relating to audits of single financial statements and of specific elements, accounts or items of a financial statement should be addressed in a new ISA; that is, ISA 805, Special Considerations - Audits of Single Financial Statements and Specific Elements, Accounts or Items of a Financial Statement. The title of ISA 800 (Revised and Redrafted) should be amended to Special Considerations - Audits of Financial Statements Prepared in Accordance with Special Purpose Frameworks.
A summary of significant comments on the exposure draft and the Task Force's recommendations, and a revised proposed ISA were discussed at the March 2008 IAASB meeting.
The IAASB approved ISA 800 (Revised and Redrafted) and ISA 805 (Revised and Redrafted) at its September 2008 meeting. Updated Agenda Item 11-A and Updated Agenda Item 11-B reflect in marked text the changes based on decisions taken at the meeting. The updated agenda items are included here for information purposes only and are not the final pronouncements. Interested parties are discouraged from distributing, translating or using the updated agenda items for any purpose. They should await the release of the final pronouncements, which may contain minor modifications when compared to the updated agenda items.
The final pronouncements are those approved by the IAASB and published by IFAC after the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB) has confirmed that due process was followed in their development. They will be available at http://www.ifac.org/IAASB/Resources.php.