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The successor auditor must obtain sufficient competent evidential matter to afford a reasonable basis for expressing an opinion on the financial statements he or she has been engaged to audit, including evaluating the consistency of the application of accounting principles. The audit evidence used in analyzing the impact of the opening balances on the current-year financial statements and consistency of accounting principles is a matter of professional judgment. Such audit evidence may include the most recent audited financial statements, the predecessor auditor's report thereon, ^fn 8 the results of inquiry of the predecessor auditor, the results of the successor auditor's review of the predecessor auditor's working papers relating to the most recently completed audit, and audit procedures performed on the current period's transactions that may provide evidence about the opening balances or consistency. For example, evidence gathered during the current year's audit may provide information about the realizability and existence of receivables and inventory recorded at the beginning of the year. The successor auditor may also apply appropriate auditing procedures to account balances at the beginning of the period under audit and to transactions in prior periods. [As amended, effective for audits of financial statements for periods ending on or after June 30, 2001, by Statement on Auditing Standards No. 93.]