Do accountants and bookkeepers need to comply with Australian Auditing Standards (ASA)?

Comply with Australian Auditing Standards (ASA). Section 307A of the Corporations Act 2001 requires an individual auditor or audit company that audits or reviews an annual or half-year financial report to conduct the audit or review in accordance with the auditing standards; where an audit firm or audit company is engaged, the lead auditor must ensure this. The auditing standards are made by the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB) as legislative instruments under s 336, and have been legally enforceable since July 2006.

Trigger: Accepting and conducting an audit or review of an annual or half-year financial report required by the Corporations Act.

Rules Mate runs its applicability engine across 9 business structures and 6 size bands for each of the 35 industries it maps. For 34 of those industries the answer for "Comply with Australian Auditing Standards (ASA)" is no. Accountants & bookkeepers is one of the 1 where the answer is different: only if.

The deciding fact for accountants and bookkeepers: Industry: Accountants & bookkeepers; applies only if you are a registered company auditor or conduct audits.

About the industry: Professional accounting and bookkeeping firms. Captured by Tranche 2 when providing designated services such as managing client money or company formation.

Compare a professional services (general) business with 6–19 employees structured as a Pty Ltd company: the obligation does not apply (Requires a trigger outside this questionnaire).

Each cell is the engine's outcome for a business in accountants & bookkeepers with that structure and size, assuming it sells to consumers and small businesses and holds customer contact details. "Check" means the obligation turns on a fact the industry does not settle.

When due

Throughout every audit or review engagement, applying the auditing standards in force for the reporting period (a standard applies to periods ending after it commences, or from a later date it specifies).

Evidence to keep

Audit file documenting planning, risk assessment, evidence and conclusions under the ASAs; engagement letter; auditor's independence declaration and independence assessment; quality management documentation; lead auditor review and sign-off; auditor's report in the form the standards require.

Maximum penalty

Contravening s 307A(1) or (2) is an offence: the fault-based offence carries up to 2 years imprisonment (s 307A(3)) and the strict liability offence 50 penalty units, $18,200 (s 307A(4)) (Corporations Act Schedule 3). ASIC can also take enforcement action where its audit oversight identifies significant non-compliance

Regulator

ASIC

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth (national)

• Registered Company Auditor (RCA) registration + CPD (RG 260): Only if
• Comply with Australian sanctions law + screening (DFAT): Yes
• Comply with the TASA Code of Professional Conduct: Yes
• Customer due diligence (KYC) on every customer: Yes
• Designate an AML/CTF Compliance Officer: Yes
• Detect + enhance due diligence on Domestic + Foreign PEPs: Yes
• All 23 answers for accountants & bookkeepers