RJN & Co is the statutory auditor of Plan My Trip Ltd. The company is in the business of tours and travels. The annual turnover of the company…

CA Final · Advanced Auditing, Assurance and Professional Ethics · MTP · January 2026
RJN & Co is the statutory auditor of Plan My Trip Ltd. The company is in the business of tours and travels. The annual turnover of the company is 2200 crores and profits are 196 crores. During the planning meeting of the management and the auditors, it was discussed that the management needs to provide written representation letter to the auditors for the preparation of the financial statements and for completeness of the information provided to the auditor. At the time of closure of the audit, there has been some confusion about the requirements of the written representation letter. Management argued that representation need not be written, it can also be verbal which has been provided to the audit team during the course of audit. Auditors have completed their documentation and hence in a way, representation based on verbal discussions with the auditors has also got documented. Auditors explained that it is mandatory to obtain written representation in accordance with the requirements of SA 580. However, still some confusion remains regarding the date and period covered by the written representation. You are required to advise about the date of, and period covered by written representation in view of SA 580.

Suggested Answer and Working Notes:

As per SA 580, “Written Representations”, as written representations are necessary audit evidence, the auditor's opinion cannot be expressed, and the auditor's report cannot be dated, before the date of the written representations. Furthermore, because the auditor is concerned with events occurring up to the date of the auditor's report that may require adjustment to or disclosure in the financial statements, the written representations are dated as near as practicable to, but not after, the date of the auditor's report on the financial statements. In some circumstances it may be appropriate for the auditor to obtain a written representation about a specific assertion in the financial statements during the course of the audit. Where this is the case, it may be necessary to request an updated written representation. The written representations are for all periods referred to in the auditor's report because management needs to reaffirm that the written representations it previously made with respect to the prior periods remain appropriate. The auditor and management may agree to a form of written representation that updates written representations relating to the prior periods by addressing whether there are any changes to such written representations and, if so, what they are. Situations may arise where current management were not present during all periods referred to in the auditor's report. Such persons may assert that they are not in a position to provide some or all of the written representations because they were not in place during the period. This fact, however, does not diminish such persons' responsibilities for the financial statements as a whole. Accordingly, the requirement for the auditor to request from them written representations that cover the whole of the relevant period(s) still applies. The refusal of management to provide written representation is not correct as per SA 580.

Topics: Standard on Auditing (SA), CARO 2020

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