[The following footnote is effective before December 31, 2016. See  PCAOB Release No. 2015-002. The current standard can be found here.] 

fn 16  AU section 329, Analytical Procedures, defines analytical procedures as “evaluations of financial information made by a study of plausible relationships among both financial and nonfinancial data. Analytical procedures range from simple comparisons to the use of complex models involving many relationships and elements of data.” In applying analytical procedures to MD&A, the practitioner develops expectations of matters that would be discussed in MD&A by identifying and using plausible relationships that are reasonably expected to exist based on the practitioner's understanding of the client and of the industry in which the client operates, and the knowledge of relationships among the various financial elements gained through the audit of financial statements or review of interim financial information. Refer to AU section 329 for further discussion of analytical procedures.