Michelle Roberts ACA examines the impact of ISA (UK) 540 (Revised) Auditing Accounting Estimates and Related Disclosures (2018) on audit planning considerations

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has agreed a Memorandum of Understanding on Reciprocal Arrangements (MOURA) with IAASA, the Republic of Ireland (ROI) competent authority, minimising disruption to cross-border audits

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has banned a corporate trustee and one of its directors from acting as pension scheme trustees after multiple governance failures which it said highlighted a lack of competence, capability and integrity

Grant Thornton is facing a £200m lawsuit brought by the administrators of collapsed café chain Patisserie Valerie, seeking damages in respect of the firm’s audits for the financial periods September 2014 to September 2017

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is consulting on plans to revise the standards for an audit firm’s responsibilities to design, implement and operate a system of quality management, in response to changes made by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB)

Online fashion retailer Boohoo has appointed PKF Littlejohn as its external auditor, replacing PwC which stepped down from the role in October

The government is to offer councils an additional £15m in response to findings of the independent review into the effectiveness of local audit carried out by Sir Tony Redmond earlier this year, to fund a suite of improvements in transparency and accountability

In a round-up of the biggest audit stories of the year, we look at all the non-coronavirus news, including audit wins and losses, plans to break up Big Four audit firms, fines, reprimands, standard revisions, audit quality inspections and an exclusive interview with FRC boss Sir Jon Thompson

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) plans to create a separate standard for audits of financial statements of a less complex entity (LCE) and will consult on proposals in early 2021

UK banks have been given the green light by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to begin paying shareholders dividends again, after pay-outs were halted at the start of the pandemic in March

The Financial Reporting Council has undertaken new analysis of its audit quality inspection results after discovering 80% of audits required improvement, effective challenging was a key component  

The government has announced a further extension to changes to insolvency measures and the regulations for company AGMs, designed to relieve the pressure on businesses dealing with coronavirus