Using the Work of Others
Section 3 is 30-40% of the AUD exam, the heaviest section, and the AICPA keeps testing one idea: using someone else's work never reduces the external auditor's own responsibility. The #1 trap is treating a reference to a component auditor as a qualification of the opinion, under AU-C 600, it is just a division of responsibility, and the opinion stays unmodified. Under AU-C 620, you must tell apart an auditor's specialist (whose work helps the auditor) from a management's specialist (whose work helps management prepare the statements), because the reporting rules differ: the auditor's specialist should NOT be named in the report. Many candidates also forget that AU-C 610 requires evaluating internal auditors on all three factors, competence, objectivity, AND a systematic approach.
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What AICPA wants you to know
- 1Evaluate the work of internal auditors for audit purposes
- 2Understand the group audit and component auditor framework
- 3Apply the requirements for using a management's specialist vs. an auditor's specialist
- 4Determine when reference to another auditor is appropriate in the audit report
- 5Assess the competence and objectivity of those whose work is used