CA ANZ releases 15-point audit roadmap


Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has proposed a 15-point roadmap to improve the confidence and quality of audits, in light of the fact Australians have a ‘fair and reasonable’ expectation that audit will protect them from shocks in their financial lives.
The plan was developed through extensive engagement with chartered accountants and business, investor and governance groups.
CA ANZ said auditing was ‘effective’ but that independence rules needed to be revisited as well as how conflicts of interest were mitigated.
The 15-points were broken down into three sections of conflicts and confidence, risk and relevance and quality audits.
These covered areas such as audit tenures, firm transparency and governance, corporate reporting clarity, regulatory oversight on audit quality and auditor’s fraud detection skills.
“Organisations across the private and public sectors have come under major scrutiny, particularly over the last three years,” said Amir Ghandar, CA ANZ reporting & assurance leader.
“Clearly, a more integrated and consistent approach to how Australians are covered for risks such as fraud, misconduct and corporate failure is essential.
“Australians have a fair and reasonable expectation that auditing and other lines of defence will protect them from risks and shocks in their financial and consumer lives, and will similarly provide for confidence, integrity and transparency in business.”
CA ANZ said it would continue its advocacy efforts in the parliamentary inquiry into audit which was announced earlier this year.
Recommended for you
ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of an advice firm associated with Shield and First Guardian collapses, and permanently banned its responsible manager.
In the run-up to heavy losses expected at the end of the financial year, June has already reported consecutive weeks of adviser losses.
ASIC has banned a former NSW adviser from providing advice for 10 years for investing at least $14.8 million into a cryptocurrency-based scam.
ASIC has sent warning notices to social media finfluencers who it suspects are providing unlicensed financial advice to Australians as part of a global crackdown by international regulators.