CA ANZ has lodged a submission jointly with ACCA on the IAASB’s proposed revised ISA 500 Audit Evidence.

While we commend the IAASB for responding to demands to update ISA 500, our submission raised several key concerns in relation to the proposed standard:

• As the revision of ISA 500 has been done without considering the impact on the full 500 series standards we suggest that the IAASB prioritises any narrow scope amendments to the ISA 500 series and considers whether full revisions of certain standards would be necessary to meet public interest demands.
• In our view the proposed revised  ISA 500 does not go as far as expected in relation to technology. We note that the IAASB appears to be taking a cautious approach when it comes to embracing technology.
• In our view the application material does not appropriately describe the interrelationship between sufficiency, appropriateness, and persuasiveness of audit evidence. We therefore suggest incorporating persuasiveness within the definitions section of ED-500 to help clarify the interrelationship with sufficiency and appropriateness. It may be necessary to provide further guidance on the interrelationship between ISA 500 and 330 to assist practitioners to implement the new standard.
• We do not see a reason for emphasising the attributes of accuracy and completeness over all other attributes as it moves away from the principles-based approach.