Australian Government
Auditing and Assurance Standards Board
Friday, December 11, 2020
The AUASB has released a revised version of ASRS 4400 Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements which is operative for agreed-upon procedures engagements for which the terms of engagement are agreed on or after 1 January 2022 (with early adoption permitted).
ASRS 4400 Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements, has been revised to respond to the growing demand for these types of engagements. The revised requirements and application material include enhancements relating to, among other matters, the exercise of professional judgement, compliance with independence requirements, engagement acceptance and continuance considerations, using the work of a practitioner’s expert, and greater clarity and transparency in the agreed-upon procedures report.
The Australian version of the standard conforms with the International Standard on Related Services Engagements ISRS 4400 Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements, and includes the following Australian specific amendments:
• Additional requirements that restrict the use of AUP reports to intended users identified in the AUP report;
• A requirement for the AUP report to include an explicit statement that the practitioner has complied with the principle of objectivity;
• Changes to the wording relating to independence in the illustrative example engagement letter for situations where the practitioner is independent; and
• An additional appendix containing a table of differences between an AUP engagement and an assurance engagement.
For further details on the Australian specific amendments included in ASRS 4400, refer to the Basis for Conclusions document. ASRS 4400 is operative for agreed-upon procedures engagements for which the terms of engagement are agreed on or after 1 January 2022 with early adoption permitted.
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