Post Implementation Review of ASAE 3500 Performance Engagements

Monday, March 27, 2023

The objective of the PIR is to:

• gather information about the implementation and application of ASAE 3500, which was revised and reissued by the AUASB in October 2017; and
• evaluate the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the Standard in meeting its original objectives, including whether the Standard remains appropriate.

ASAE 3500 primarily deals with direct engagements to provide a reasonable assurance report on the performance of an activity/activities (expressed in terms of economy, efficiency and/or effectiveness) evaluated against identified criteria. The Standard may also be applied to limited assurance engagements, adapted and supplemented as necessary in the engagement circumstances.

ASAE 3500 is an Australian Standard with no IAASB equivalent; however, it is issued by the AUASB under the AUASB’s Framework for Assurance Engagements, which is consistent with the IAASB’s equivalent Framework. ASAE 3500 is explicitly linked to the current ASAE 3000 Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information.

PIR feedback will assist the AUASB in determining whether ASAE 3500 is fit for purpose.  Any issues identified with the PIR will be considered by the AUASB as part of a separate full-scope or narrow-scope revision of ASAE 3500 project.

The Project Plan for the PIR provides further details on the project.

If you have any relevant feedback on the application of ASAE 3500, the AUASB would appreciate hearing your views.  We are particularly interested in getting your feedback in response to the following PIR Questions. Please contact Johanna Foyster to share your insights, or send a submission to [email protected], by 28 April 2023.