AS 2705: Required Supplementary Information

Summary Table of Contents 

• .02  Applicability
• .04  Involvement With Information Outside Financial Statements
• .06  Involvement With Required Supplementary Information
• .07  Procedures
• .08  Reporting on Required Supplementary Information

.01        The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), and the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) develop standards for financial reporting, including standards for financial statements and for certain other information supplementary to financial statements. This section provides the independent auditor with guidance on the nature of procedures to be applied to supplementary information required by the FASB, GASB, or FASAB and describes the circumstances that would require the auditor to report such information. 

Applicability

.02        This section is applicable in an audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB of financial statements included in a document that should contain supplementary information required by generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). However, this section is not applicable if the auditor has been engaged to audit such supplementary information.² 

.03        Some entities may voluntarily include, in documents containing audited financial statements, certain supplementary information that is required of other entities. When an entity voluntarily includes such information as a supplement to the financial statements or in an unaudited note to the financial statements, the provisions of this section are applicable unless either the entity indicates that the auditor has not applied the procedures described in this section or the auditor includes in an explanatory paragraph, including an appropriate title, in his report on the audited financial statements a disclaimer on the information. The following is an example of a disclaimer an auditor might use in these circumstances:

[Appropriate Title]

The [identify the supplementary information] on page XX (or in Note XX) is not a required part of the basic financial statements, and we did not audit or apply limited procedures to such information and do not express any assurances on such information.

When the auditor does not apply the procedures described in this section to a voluntary presentation of required supplementary information required for other entities, the provisions of AS 2710 apply.

Involvement With Information Outside Financial Statements

.04        The objective of an audit of financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB is the expression of an opinion on such statements. The auditor has no responsibility to audit information outside the basic financial statements in accordance with PCAOB auditing standards. However, the auditor does have certain responsibilities with respect to information outside the financial statements. The nature of the auditor's responsibility varies with the nature of both the information and the document containing the financial statements.

.05        The auditor's responsibility for other information not required by the FASB, GASB, or FASAB but included in certain annual reports—which are client-prepared documents⁴—is specified in AS 2710. AS 2701, Auditing Supplemental Information Accompanying Audited Financial Statements, sets forth the auditor's responsibilities when the auditor of the company's financial statements is engaged to perform audit procedures and report on supplemental information that accompanies financial statements audited pursuant to Public Company Oversight Board standards. The auditor's responsibility for supplementary information required by the FASB, GASB or FASAB (called required supplementary information) is discussed in the paragraphs that follow. 

Involvement With Required Supplementary Information

.06        Required supplementary information differs from other types of information outside the basic financial statements because the FASB, GASB or FASAB considers the information an essential part of the financial reporting of certain entities and because authoritative guidelines for the measurement and presentation of the information have been established. Accordingly, the auditor should apply certain limited procedures to required supplementary information and should report deficiencies in, or the omission of, such information. 

Procedures

.07        The auditor should consider whether supplementary information is required by the FASB or GASB in the circumstances. If supplementary information is required, the auditor ordinarily should apply the following procedures to the information.⁵

1. Inquire of management about the methods of preparing the information, including (1) whether it is measured and presented within prescribed guidelines, (2) whether methods of measurement or presentation have been changed from those used in the prior period and the reasons for any such changes, and (3) any significant assumptions or interpretations underlying the measurement or presentation.
2. Compare the information for consistency with (1) management's responses to the foregoing inquiries, (2) audited financial statements,⁶ and (3) other knowledge obtained during the examination of the financial statements.
3. Consider whether representations on required supplementary information should be included in specific written representations obtained from management (AS 2805, Management Representations).
4. Apply additional procedures, if any, that other statements or interpretations prescribe for specific types of required supplementary information.
5. Make additional inquiries if application of the foregoing procedures causes the auditor to believe that the information may not be measured or presented within applicable guidelines.

Reporting on Required Supplementary Information

.08        Since the supplementary information is not audited and is not a required part of the basic financial statements, the auditor need not add an explanatory paragraph to the report on the audited financial statements to refer to the supplementary information or to his or her limited procedures, except in any of the following circumstances:⁷ (a) the supplementary information that GAAP requires to be presented in the circumstances is omitted; (b) the auditor has concluded that the measurement or presentation of the supplementary information departs materially from prescribed guidelines; (c) the auditor is unable to complete the prescribed procedures; (d) the auditor is unable to remove substantial doubts about whether the supplementary information conforms to prescribed guidelines. Since the required supplementary information does not change the standards of financial accounting and reporting used for the preparation of the entity's basic financial statements, the circumstances described above do not affect the auditor's opinion on the fairness of presentation of such financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. Furthermore, the auditor need not present the supplementary information if it is omitted by the entity. The following are examples of additional explanatory paragraphs, including appropriate titles, an auditor might use in these circumstances.

Omission of Required Supplementary Information

The (Company or Governmental Unit) has not presented [describe the supplementary information required by GAAP^†] that accounting principles generally accepted in the United States has determined is necessary to supplement, although not required to be part of, the basic financial statements.

Material Departures From Guidelines

The [specifically identify the supplementary information] on page XX is not a required part of the basic financial statements, and we did not audit and do not express an opinion on such information. However, we have applied certain limited procedures, which consisted principally of inquiries of management regarding the methods of measurement and presentation of the supplementary information. As a result of such limited procedures, we believe that the [specifically identify the supplementary information] is not in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States because [describe the material departure(s) from the GAAP^†].

Prescribed Procedures Not Completed

The [specifically identify the supplementary information] on page XX is not a required part of the basic financial statements, and we did not audit and do not express an opinion on such information. Further, we were unable to apply to the information certain procedures prescribed by professional standards because [state the reasons].

Unresolved Doubts About Adherence to Guidelines

The [specifically identify the supplementary information] on page XX is not a required part of the basic financial statements, and we did not audit and do not express an opinion on such information. However, we have applied certain limited procedures prescribed by professional standards that raised doubts that we were unable to resolve regarding whether material modifications should be made to the information for it to conform with guidelines established by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. [The auditor should consider including in the report the reason(s) he or she was unable to resolve his or her substantial doubts.]

Even though the auditor is unable to complete the prescribed procedures, if, on the basis of facts known to him or her, the auditor concludes that the supplementary information has not been measured or presented within prescribed guidelines, he or she should suggest appropriate revision; failing that, he or she should describe the nature of any material departure(s) in the report. 

.09        In conjunction with the audit of the financial statements, the auditor may subject the supplementary information to certain auditing procedures. If the procedures are sufficient to enable the auditor to express an opinion on whether the information is fairly stated in all material respects in relation to the financial statements taken as a whole, the auditor may expand the audit report in accordance with AS 2701. 

.10        If the entity includes with the supplementary information an indication that the auditor performed any procedures regarding the information without also indicating that the auditor does not express an opinion on the information presented, the auditor's report on the audited financial statements should be expanded to include a disclaimer on the information or, if appropriate, an opinion on whether the information is fairly stated in all material respects in relation to the financial statements taken as a whole. 

.11        Ordinarily, the required supplementary information should be distinct from the audited financial statements and distinguished from other information outside the financial statements that is not required by GAAP. However, management may choose not to place the required supplementary information outside the basic financial statements. In such circumstances, unless it is audited as part of the basic financial statements, the information should be clearly marked as unaudited. If the information is not clearly marked as unaudited, the auditor's report on the audited financial statements should be expanded to include a disclaimer on the supplementary information.