Alex & Associates is the statutory auditor of VC Ltd., a listed company and started its operations 6 years ago. The fieldwork for the audit of…

As per SA 220, “Quality Control for an Audit of Financial Statement", the engagement partner shall take responsibility for reviews being performed in accordance with the firm's review policies and procedures. For audits of financial statements of listed entities, the engagement partner shall: Determine that an engagement quality control reviewer has been appointed;Discuss significant matters arising during the audit engagement, including those identified during the engagement quality control review, with the engagement quality control reviewer; andNot date the auditor's report until the completion of the engagement quality control review. Further, SA 700,” Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements”, requires the auditor's report to be dated not earlier than the date on which the auditor has obtained sufficient appropriate evidence on which to base the auditor's opinion on the financial statements. In cases of an audit of financial statements of listed entities where the engagement meets the criteria for an engagement quality control review, such a review assists the auditor in determining whether sufficient appropriate evidence has been obtained. Conducting the engagement quality control review in a timely manner at appropriate stages during the engagement allows significant matters to be promptly resolved to the engagement quality control reviewer's satisfaction on or before the date of the auditor's report. In this case, the audit of VC Ltd. for the year ending on 31st March 2025 was conducted by Alex & Associates and was completed on 5th May, 2025. Subsequently, the engagement partner reviewed the audit by 16th May, 2025. The audit report issued by Alex and Associates was dated 19th May, 2025. However, the engagement quality control review was finalized on 22nd May, 2025, which is later than the date of the audit report. In view of above, the date of auditors' report before the completion of the engagement quality control review, is not correct.