RST Ltd. is a company listed in India. The Company has appointed M/s R & Co. as auditors. CA. R has recently joined the firm and has been…
CA Final · Advanced Auditing, Assurance and Professional Ethics · MTP · September 2025
RST Ltd. is a company listed in India. The Company has appointed M/s R & Co. as auditors. CA. R has recently joined the firm and has been appointed as the engagement partner for the first time. During the audit planning, the engagement partner discovers that a relative of a team member holds a significant financial interest in RST Ltd. The team member had not reported this relationship earlier. He understands that it is necessary to ensure compliance of independence for the audit team as per standard audit practices. But he could not find as such any policies and procedures available with the firm in documented form. Why do you think that the firm should have policies and procedures to ensure the independence of the firm in every assignment? How does an engagement partner ensure the compliance of independence? Discuss with reference to relevant SAs.
Suggested Answer and Working Notes:
As per SQC 1, “Quality Control for Firms that Perform Audits and Reviews of Historical Financial Information, and Other Assurance and Related Services Engagements," the firm should establish policies and procedures designed to provide it with reasonable assurance that the firm, its personnel and, where applicable, others subject to independence requirements (including experts contracted by the firm and network firm personnel), maintain independence where required by the Code. Such policies and procedures should enable the firm to: Communicate its independence requirements to its personnel and, where applicable, to others subject to them; andIdentify and evaluate circumstances and relationships that create threats to independence, and to take appropriate action to eliminate those threats or reduce them to an acceptable level by applying safeguards, or, if considered appropriate, to withdraw from the engagement. Further, as per SA 220, “Quality Control for an Audit of Financial Statements", the engagement partner shall form a conclusion on compliance with independence requirements that apply to the audit engagement. In doing so, the engagement partner shall: Obtain relevant information from the firm and, where applicable, network firms, to identify and evaluate circumstances and relationships that create threats to independence;Evaluate information on identified breaches, if any, of the firm's independence policies and procedures to determine whether they create a threat to independence for the audit engagement; andTake appropriate action to eliminate such threats or reduce them to an acceptable level by applying safeguards, or, if considered appropriate, to withdraw from the audit engagement, where withdrawal is permitted by law or regulation. The engagement partner shall promptly report to the firm any inability to resolve the matter for appropriate action.
Topics: Standard on Auditing (SA)
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