As part of the development of its future Strategy and Work Plans, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has published a survey to obtain stakeholder views about its future direction. The survey has been published in English, French and Spanish and responses to the survey will be used to assist the IAASB in identifying strategic themes to be addressed as it develops its formal consultation on its future Strategy and Work Plans later in 2018.
After completing its project to clarify the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) and Quality Control standards in 2009, the IAASB has been focused on enhancing the relevance and quality of its standards on assurance, review and related services. In addition, the IAASB dedicated considerable time and resources to revising its auditor reporting standards, in light of calls for increased transparency about the audit. The IAASB also undertook a post-implementation review of the clarified ISAs, which highlighted several key ISAs where further consideration for effective and consistent implementation was needed by the IAASB. The IAASB’s work from 2015 has been largely informed by the findings from this post-implementation review, and projects to revise various ISAs and ISQC 1 have been significantly progressed. Some of these significant projects will continue to be progressed in 2018 and 2019, with the intention to finalize the revised standards early in the IAASB’s next Strategy period commencing in 2020.
The IAASB’s strategy consultation process for the period 2020–2023 starts with this stakeholder survey, and it is intended to help identify key issues for consideration in developing its future activities, in the context of the IAASB’s broad strategic focus, and the changing environment. The IAASB is approaching the development of its future strategy and work plans with an open mind -- for example, it may be an appropriate time to consider whether another reform of the IAASB’s standards and activities, including the way its activities are undertaken, is needed. In addition to questions about where the IAASB should focus its activities (for example, audit versus assurance, and standard-setting versus implementation), respondents to the survey have also been asked for views about the broader environment affecting the IAASB’s activities, as well as key challenges and other factors that may impact the IAASB’s focus.
The input from this survey, as well as direct engagement with a range of stakeholders through targeted outreach efforts, will help inform the development of the IAASB’s Consultation Paper on its future activities, which is expected to be released at the end of 2018. The Consultation Paper will contain a more robust description of the matters addressed by the survey, and will solicit comments in the form of written responses from stakeholders.
The survey will be open for responses through July 24, 2018. Responses must be submitted using the survey tool. Word versions of the survey have been provided to assist organizations that may need to consult internally in preparing their response before submitting it electronically. The IAASB looks forward to hearing from a wide range of its global stakeholders.
