[The following paragraph was effective for audits of fiscal years beginning before December 15, 2014. See PCAOB Release No. 2014-002 for audits of fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2014, or return to the current version.]

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The successor auditor should request that the client authorize the predecessor auditor to allow a review of the predecessor auditor's working papers. The predecessor auditor may wish to request a consent and acknowledgment letter from the client to document this authorization in an effort to reduce misunderstandings about the scope of the communications being authorized. ^fn 6 It is customary in such circumstances for the predecessor auditor to make himself or herself available to the successor auditor and make available for review certain of the working papers. The predecessor auditor should determine which working papers are to be made available for review and which may be copied. The predecessor auditor should ordinarily permit the successor auditor to review working papers, including documentation of planning, internal control, audit results, and other matters of continuing accounting and auditing significance, such as the working paper analysis of balance sheet accounts, and those relating to contingencies. Also, the predecessor auditor should reach an understanding with the successor auditor as to the use of the working papers. ^fn 7 The extent, if any, to which a predecessor auditor permits access to the working papers is a matter of judgment.