Auditing Standard No. 5

An Audit of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting that is Integrated with an Audit of Financial Statements

APPENDIX C - Special Reporting Situations

Report Modifications

C1.      The auditor should modify his or her report if any of the following conditions exist.

  1. Elements of management's annual report on internal control are incomplete or improperly presented,
  2. There is a restriction on the scope of the engagement,
  3. The auditor decides to refer to the report of other auditors as the basis, in part, for the auditor's own report,
  4. There is other information contained in management's annual report on internal control over financial reporting, or
  5. Management's annual certification pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is misstated.

C2.      Elements of Management's Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting Are Incomplete or Improperly Presented. If the auditor determines that elements of management's annual report on internal control over financial reporting are incomplete or improperly presented, the auditor should modify his or her report to include an explanatory paragraph describing the reasons for this determination. If the auditor determines that the required disclosure about a material weakness is not fairly presented in all material respects, the auditor should follow the direction in paragraph 91.

C3.      Scope Limitations. The auditor can express an opinion on the company's internal control over financial reporting only if the auditor has been able to apply the procedures necessary in the circumstances. If there are restrictions on the scope of the engagement, the auditor should withdraw from the engagement or disclaim an opinion. A disclaimer of opinion states that the auditor does not express an opinion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting.

C4.      When disclaiming an opinion because of a scope limitation, the auditor should state that the scope of the audit was not sufficient to warrant the expression of an opinion and, in a separate paragraph or paragraphs, the substantive reasons for the disclaimer. The auditor should not identify the procedures that were performed nor include the statements describing the characteristics of an audit of internal control over financial reporting (paragraph 85 g, h, and i); to do so might overshadow the disclaimer.

C5.      When the auditor plans to disclaim an opinion and the limited procedures performed by the auditor caused the auditor to conclude that a material weakness exists, the auditor's report also should include -

  • The definition of a material weakness, as provided in paragraph A7.
  • A description of any material weaknesses identified in the company's internal control over financial reporting. This description should provide the users of the audit report with specific information about the nature of any material weakness and its actual and potential effect on the presentation of the company's financial statements issued during the existence of the weakness. This description also should address the requirements in paragraph 91.

C6.      The auditor may issue a report disclaiming an opinion on internal control over financial reporting as soon as the auditor concludes that a scope limitation will prevent the auditor from obtaining the reasonable assurance necessary to express an opinion. The auditor is not required to perform any additional work prior to issuing a disclaimer when the auditor concludes that he or she will not be able to obtain sufficient evidence to express an opinion.

[The following note is effective for audits of fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2010. See PCAOB Release No. 2010-004. For audits of fiscal years beginning before December 15, 2010, click here.]

Note: In this case, in following the direction in paragraph 89 regarding dating the auditor's report, the report date is the date that the auditor has obtained sufficient appropriate evidence to support the representations in the auditor's report.

C7.      If the auditor concludes that he or she cannot express an opinion because there has been a limitation on the scope of the audit, the auditor should communicate, in writing, to management and the audit committee that the audit of internal control over financial reporting cannot be satisfactorily completed.

C8.      Opinions Based, in Part, on the Report of Another Auditor. When another auditor has audited the financial statements and internal control over financial reporting of one or more subsidiaries, divisions, branches, or components of the company, the auditor should determine whether he or she may serve as the principal auditor and use the work and reports of another auditor as a basis, in part, for his or her opinion. AU sec. 543, Part of Audit Performed by Other Independent Auditors , provides direction on the auditor's decision of whether to serve as the principal auditor of the financial statements. If the auditor decides it is appropriate to serve as the principal auditor of the financial statements, then that auditor also should be the principal auditor of the company's internal control over financial reporting. This relationship results from the requirement that an audit of the financial statements must be performed to audit internal control over financial reporting; only the principal auditor of the financial statements can be the principal auditor of internal control over financial reporting. In this circumstance, the principal auditor of the financial statements must participate sufficiently in the audit of internal control over financial reporting to provide a basis for serving as the principal auditor of internal control over financial reporting.

C9.      When serving as the principal auditor of internal control over financial reporting, the auditor should decide whether to make reference in the report on internal control over financial reporting to the audit of internal control over financial reporting performed by the other auditor. In these circumstances, the auditor's decision is based on factors analogous to those of the auditor who uses the work and reports of other independent auditors when reporting on a company's financial statements as described in AU sec. 543.

C10.    The decision about whether to make reference to another auditor in the report on the audit of internal control over financial reporting might differ from the corresponding decision as it relates to the audit of the financial statements. For example, the audit report on the financial statements may make reference to the audit of a significant equity investment performed by another independent auditor, but the report on internal control over financial reporting might not make a similar reference because management's assessment of internal control over financial reporting ordinarily would not extend to controls at the equity method investee. 1/

C11.    When the auditor decides to make reference to the report of the other auditor as a basis, in part, for his or her opinion on the company's internal control over financial reporting, the auditor should refer to the report of the other auditor when describing the scope of the audit and when expressing the opinion.

C12.    Management's Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting Containing Additional Information. Management's annual report on internal control over financial reporting may contain information in addition to the elements described in paragraph 72 that are subject to the auditor's evaluation.

C13.    If management's annual report on internal control over financial reporting could reasonably be viewed by users of the report as including such additional information, the auditor should disclaim an opinion on the information.

C14.    If the auditor believes that management's additional information contains a material misstatement of fact, he or she should discuss the matter with management. If, after discussing the matter with management, the auditor concludes that a material misstatement of fact remains, the auditor should notify management and the audit committee, in writing, of the auditor's views concerning the information. AU sec. 317, Illegal Acts by Clients and Section 10A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 may also require the auditor to take additional action. 2/

Note: If management makes the types of disclosures described in paragraph C12 outside its annual report on internal control over financial reporting and includes them elsewhere within its annual report on the company's financial statements, the auditor would not need to disclaim an opinion. However, in that situation, the auditor's responsibilities are the same as those described in this paragraph if the auditor believes that the additional information contains a material misstatement of fact.

C15.    Management's Annual Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is Misstated. If matters come to the auditor's attention as a result of the audit of internal control over financial reporting that lead him or her to believe that modifications to the disclosures about changes in internal control over financial reporting (addressing changes in internal control over financial reporting occurring during the fourth quarter) are necessary for the annual certifications to be accurate and to comply with the requirements of Section 302 of the Act and Securities Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a), whichever applies, 3/ the auditor should follow the communication responsibilities as described in AU sec. 722 Interim Financial Information , for any interim period. However, if management and the audit committee do not respond appropriately, in addition to the responsibilities described in AU sec. 722, the auditor should modify his or her report on the audit of internal control over financial reporting to include an explanatory paragraph describing the reasons the auditor believes management's disclosures should be modified.

Filings Under Federal Securities Statutes

C16.    AU sec. 711, Filings Under Federal Securities Statutes, describes the auditor's responsibilities when an auditor's report is included in registration statements, proxy statements, or periodic reports filed under the federal securities statutes. The auditor should apply AU sec. 711 with respect to the auditor's report on internal control over financial reporting included in such filings. In addition, the auditor should extend the direction in AU sec. 711.10 to inquire of and obtain written representations from officers and other executives responsible for financial and accounting matters about whether any events have occurred that have a material effect on the audited financial statements to matters that could have a material effect on internal control over financial reporting.

C17.    When the auditor has fulfilled these responsibilities and intends to consent to the inclusion of his or her report on internal control over financial reporting in the securities filing, the auditor's consent should clearly indicate that both the audit report on financial statements and the audit report on internal control over financial reporting (or both opinions if a combined report is issued) are included in his or her consent.

1/ See paragraph B15, for further discussion of the evaluation of the controls over financial reporting for an equity method investment.

2/ See 15 U.S.C. § 78j-1.

3/ See 17 C.F.R. §§ 240.13a-14(a) and 240.15d-14(a).