Responsibilities of Joint Auditors
Note: – This SA shall does not deal with the relationship between a principal auditor & the auditor of components of an entity.
| Joint audits | The audit report of an entity is signed by the two or more auditors from different audit firms, who are jointly liable for the issued opinion. |
| Joint auditors | Two or more auditors who conduct the audit of an audit jointly. |
| Reason for Joint Audit | v Large size of an entity;
v High volume of transactions; |
| Basis of Division of work | v Assets;
v Liabilities, v Income v Expenditure, v Period v Areas v Operations However the work which can’t be divided is executed by the joint auditors together. |
| Responsibility of the joint auditors | v To communicate the important matters arose during the audit to the other joint auditors.
v Important matters mean any matters which require attention of other auditors. v Matters should be communicated before finalization of Audit Report. |
| Liability of Joint Auditors | v Solely liable for the work divided.
v Jointly & severally liable for :- · Work not divided, · Matters communicated; · Disclosure requirements; · Audit report, · Nature, time & Extent of Audit Procedures |
| No liability of other joint auditors | v If any relevant matter is communicated by any auditor after the audit report. |
| Work performed by other Auditor’s | v Joint auditor is entitled to rely upon the work performed by the other auditors & therefore there is no need to review the work performed by another auditor. |
| Reporting Requirements | v Generally, a single audit report is given signed by all the auditors.
v But in case of any disagreement on any matter to be covered in the audit, the joint auditor can give the separate report. |