Professional judgement is essential to the proper conduct of an audit.  This is because interpretation of relevant ethical requirements and the Australian Auditing Standards and the informed decisions required throughout the audit cannot be made without …

The distinguishing feature of the professional judgement expected of an auditor is that it is exercised by an auditor whose training, knowledge and experience have assisted in developing the necessary competencies to achieve reasonable …

The exercise of professional judgement in any particular case is based on the facts and circumstances that are known by the auditor.  Consultation on difficult or contentious matters during the course of the audit, both within the engagement team and …

Professional judgement can be evaluated based on whether the judgement reached reflects a competent application of auditing and accounting principles and is appropriate in the light of, and consistent with, the facts and circumstances that were known to …

Professional judgement needs to be exercised throughout the audit.  It also needs to be appropriately documented.  In this regard, the auditor is required to prepare audit documentation sufficient to enable an experienced auditor, having no previous …

(Ref: Para. 5 and 17 ) Sufficiency and Appropriateness of Audit Evidence …

Audit evidence is necessary to support the auditor’s opinion and report.  It is cumulative in nature and is primarily obtained from audit procedures performed during the course of the audit.  It may, however, also include information obtained from other …

The sufficiency and appropriateness of audit evidence are interrelated.  Sufficiency is the measure of the quantity of audit evidence.  The quantity of audit evidence needed is affected by the auditor’s assessment of the risks of misstatement (the higher …

Appropriateness is the measure of the quality of audit evidence; that is, its relevance and its reliability in providing support for the conclusions on which the auditor’s opinion is based.  The reliability of evidence is influenced by its source and by …

Whether sufficient appropriate audit evidence has been obtained to reduce audit risk to an acceptably low level, and thereby enable the auditor to draw reasonable conclusions on which to base the auditor’s opinion, is a matter of professional judgement.  …