This Auditing Standard deals with the auditor’s responsibilities relating to comparative information in an audit of a financial report.  When the financial report of the prior period has been audited by a predecessor auditor or was not audited, the requirements and guidance in ASA 510^[1] regarding opening balances also apply.

The nature of the comparative information that is presented in an entity’s financial report depends on the requirements of the applicable financial reporting framework.  There are two different broad approaches to the auditor’s reporting responsibilities in respect of such comparative information: corresponding figures and comparative financial reports.  The approach to be adopted is often specified by law or regulation but may also be specified in the terms of engagement.

The essential audit reporting differences between the approaches are:

1. For corresponding figures, the auditor’s opinion on the financial report refers to the current period only; whereas
2. For comparative financial reports, the auditor’s opinion refers to each period for which a financial report is presented.

This Auditing Standard addresses separately the auditor’s reporting requirements for each approach.

[Deleted by the AUASB.  Refer Aus 0.3]