Other assurance engagements

Topics in this module

1. 01

   Specialised audits and summary reports

   Choose the right approach for special purpose reports, individual financial statements, financial elements, summaries and Australian concise reports.

   6 sections · 9 min read

   See the topics covered

   1. Identify what the engagement covers
   2. Audit a special purpose framework on its own terms
   3. Keep a narrow audit sufficiently broad to answer its question
   4. Test whether a summary preserves the audited meaning
   5. Apply Australia's concise reporting requirements
   6. Sources and further reading
2. 02

   Review engagements

   Understand limited assurance, choose the relevant review standard, design enquiries and analytical procedures, and distinguish review reporting outcomes.

   8 sections · 9 min read

   See the topics covered

   1. A review has its own assurance objective
   2. Select the standard before designing the work
   3. Build an informed review plan
   4. Make enquiries and analytics answer specific risks
   5. Resolve findings before signing
   6. Separate a misstatement from an evidence limitation
   7. Apply the SME and other-information routes carefully
   8. Sources and further reading
3. 03

   Other assurance engagements and ASAE 3000

   Understand ASAE 3000, assurance levels, suitable criteria, acceptance, evidence and reporting for engagements beyond historical financial information.

   8 sections · 10 min read

   See the topics covered

   1. A framework for a wider range of assurance
   2. Attestation and direct engagements
   3. Acceptance starts with a workable engagement
   4. Reasonable assurance and limited assurance
   5. Plan around risk, materiality and the criteria
   6. Evidence and the work of others
   7. Finish the engagement and communicate the conclusion
   8. Sources and further reading
4. 04

   Sustainability and non-financial assurance

   Assess sustainability, emissions, water and performance information, and understand the evidence and scope challenges in integrated reporting assurance.

   10 sections · 12 min read

   See the topics covered

   1. Turn a broad claim into an assessable statement
   2. Separate reporting frameworks from assurance standards
   3. Match evidence to the claim
   4. Understand the greenhouse gas inventory before testing it
   5. Combine assurance skills with technical expertise
   6. Recognise scheme-specific requirements
   7. Apply the water reporting boundary precisely
   8. Distinguish a reliable measure from a relevant measure
   9. Read an integrated report as a connected explanation
   10. Sources and further reading
5. 05

   Prospective and pro forma information

   Distinguish forecasts, projections and historical pro forma information, then assess assumptions, evidence, compilation and assurance reporting limits.

   9 sections · 10 min read

   See the topics covered

   1. Identify what the information is trying to show
   2. Select the engagement before designing procedures
   3. Challenge the business story behind a forecast
   4. Test uncertainty without pretending to remove it
   5. Examine a projection on its stated terms
   6. Explain what prospective assurance can establish
   7. Understand the different promise in pro forma compilation assurance
   8. Follow each pro forma adjustment to its evidence
   9. Sources and further reading
6. 06

   Internal audit and assurance on controls

   Understand internal audit independence, control frameworks and assurance reports, including ASAE 3150 and Type 1 versus Type 2 reporting.

   10 sections · 13 min read

   See the topics covered

   1. Start with the decision that needs assurance
   2. Protect independence and individual objectivity
   3. Connect governance, risk and control
   4. Plan, investigate, report and follow up
   5. Use COSO as an integrated framework
   6. Keep risk frameworks and legal scope distinct
   7. Define an ASAE 3150 engagement precisely
   8. Read service-organisation reports by type and scope
   9. Make continuous auditing an evidence process
   10. Sources and further reading
7. 07

   Compliance and governance assurance

   Plan compliance and governance assurance using suitable criteria, materiality and evidence, then form clear ASAE 3100 reporting conclusions.

   10 sections · 11 min read

   See the topics covered

   1. Turn behaviour into an assessable subject
   2. Separate requirements, criteria, activity and outcome
   3. Distinguish the engagement form and assurance level
   4. Match procedures to the obligation
   5. Evaluate significance before choosing the conclusion
   6. Recognise specialised compliance obligations
   7. Scope governance assurance around a defensible claim
   8. Apply the historical ASX framework carefully
   9. Evaluate board information without promising business success
   10. Sources and further reading
8. 08

   Performance audits and planning

   Study economy, efficiency and effectiveness, public accountability, performance measures and the planning of an evidence-based performance audit.

   8 sections · 10 min read

   See the topics covered

   1. Performance auditing and public accountability
   2. Independence, mandate and policy boundaries
   3. Economy, efficiency and effectiveness
   4. Build measures that represent the objective
   5. Select a useful and auditable topic
   6. Objectives, scope and suitable criteria
   7. Turn the objective into a practical plan
   8. Sources and further reading
9. 09

   Performance evidence, reporting and follow-up

   Learn how performance auditors gather evidence, develop findings, communicate conclusions and recommendations, and follow up the underlying problems.

   8 sections · 10 min read

   See the topics covered

   1. Connect evidence to the audit question
   2. Choose methods that suit the performance issue
   3. Evaluate evidence quality and keep the audit responsive
   4. Develop a finding, not just a criticism
   5. Report what the evidence actually supports
   6. Public reporting, responses and confidentiality
   7. Follow up the problem, not only the promise
   8. Sources and further reading
10. 10

    Non-assurance services

    Distinguish agreed-upon procedures, comfort letters and compilations, including engagement terms, factual findings, responsibilities and reporting limits.

    8 sections · 9 min read

    See the topics covered

    1. Match the service to what users need
    2. Define agreed-upon procedures precisely
    3. Exercise judgement without inventing an assurance conclusion
    4. Report findings so readers can use them correctly
    5. Understand what an Australian comfort letter does
    6. Compile information while preserving management's responsibility
    7. Apply the Australian compilation standard
    8. Sources and further reading
11. 

    Module 5 — Quizzes

    Choose a practice quiz to review your understanding, then explore explanations and your results.

    Practice quiz · Review your understanding