Fraud and going concern are important public interest issues for the IAASB. To allow adequate time for all of our stakeholders to respond to the IAASB’s Discussion Paper, Fraud and Going Concern in an Audit of Financial Statements: Exploring the Differences Between Public Perceptions About the Role of the Auditor and the Auditor’s Responsibilities in a Financial Statement Audit, the closing date of this consultation has been extended to February 1, 2021. This extension takes into account the upcoming holidays and our stakeholder’s capacity this year and is in response to stakeholder requests.

The Discussion Paper aims to gather perspectives from all our stakeholders across the financial reporting ecosystem about the role of the auditor in relation to fraud and going concern in an audit of financial statements, and to obtain input on matters about whether our standards related to fraud and going concern remain fit-for-purpose in the current environment. The input from this consultation, together with other information gathering and outreach activities, will inform IAASB decisions about possible further actions on these topics.

If you would like to know more about the IAASB’s work on fraud and going concern, including the recent roundtables on these topics, please visit the project pages on fraud and going concern. The IAASB also encourages all interested stakeholders to respond to this Discussion Paper, including investors and other users of financial statements, those charged with governance of entities, preparers of financial statements, national standard setters, professional accountancy organizations, academics, regulators and audit oversight bodies, auditors and audit firms, and others where interested.

These videos—available in English, French, Mandarin and Spanish—explain the key aspects of the new and revised quality management standards to help stakeholders begin their implementation efforts.

Focusing on the effective and consistent application of our standards, the IAASB has published a new communique detailing its next steps to address complexity, understandability, scalability, and proportionality, including in the audits of financial statements of less complex entities.

The communique details the IAASB’s efforts to balance the needs of all its stakeholders by developing a separate standard focused on less complex entities while simultaneously addressing complexity, understandability, scalability and proportionality in the International Standards on Auditing more broadly.

Focusing on the effective and consistent application of our standards, the IAASB is addressing issues and challenges related to complexity, understandability, scalability and proportionality. While there is a particular focus on audits of less complex entities, the work is also considering the suite of ISAs more broadly. This Communique highlights our efforts and sets out what we are planning.

Like every profession, accountancy will emerge from COVID-19 changed. We will be accustomed to digital processes we once thought impossible. Our change management abilities will be sharper than ever. How we anticipate the future will be informed by an experience many of us never imagined would happen.

This report captures the discussions of the September 2020 meeting of the Professional Accountants in Business Advisory Group, focusing on:

• Value creation and integrated reporting;
• Building trust in business through effective corporate governance;
• Future CFO and finance function - navigating the COVID-19 era;
• Revenue management