When an auditor is newly appointed to perform an audit or review under the Act (or other applicable legislation), they have a statutory responsibility to report on the financial report or sustainability report of the entity for the year of appointment. The financial report may be affected by account balances carried forward from the prior period, and the sustainability report may include comparative information previously reported on by the predecessor auditor. Accordingly, the successor auditor will need to form a view about whether the opening balances are fairly stated in accordance with ASA 510 Initial Audit Engagements – Opening Balances, or whether comparative sustainability information is required and appropriately presented in accordance with ASSA 5000. To support these determinations, the successor auditor may seek access to the predecessor auditor’s working papers. The auditor’s client consent prior to granting access may be considered necessary in these circumstances and the Example Letter C in Appendix 1 sets out the matters that are ordinarily addressed.

Appropriate Procedures

Where the predecessor auditor agrees to provide the successor auditor access to the auditor’s audit working papers, such access ordinarily involves an exchange of letters between the two auditors. Example Letter E in Appendix 1 sets out the matters ordinarily addressed, though amendments may be required to reflect circumstances specific to the engagement.