CA ANZ and ACCA agree that the ED is responsive to the public interest. Improving the consistency of reviews of interim financial information will have benefits for users of those financial statements, as will enhancements to the standard to reflect changes to the auditing standards since the standard was issued. The standard should also be consistent with ISRE 2400.

We note that there is a public interest consideration in not widening the expectation gap of users when it comes to reviews of interim financial information, and the board should consider the feedback it receives with that lens to ensure:

• That the work effort required by the standard is appropriate for a limited assurance engagement
• That there is appropriate consideration given to the nature of the financial reporting frameworks used in preparing interim financial statements and that those may require greater use of estimates than annual financial statements, and
• That the auditor’s interim review report assists users in understanding the work that has been undertaken and the level of assurance being provided.

We recognise the public interest rationale for strengthening the requirement for areas such as going concern, fraud and NOCLAR. However, in our view, further consideration is needed to ensure that the resulting work effort remains proportionate to the limited assurance nature of an interim review engagement.