APB publishes exposure draft of revisions to its reporting ISAs (UK and Ireland) 700, 705 and 706

News types: Guidance

Published: 23 February 2012

APB PN 158

The Auditing Practices Board (APB) of the FRC today issues a Consultation Paper proposing revisions to ISAs (UK and Ireland):

  • 700 “The auditor’s report on financial statements (revised)”;

  • 705 “Modifications to the opinion in the independent auditor’s report”;

  • 706 “Emphasis of matter paragraphs and other matter paragraphs in the independent auditor’s report”.

The consultation period ends on 31 May 2012.

The APB’s primary objective in proposing these revisions is to enable its clarified reporting ISAs (UK and Ireland) to be used by auditors in the Republic of Ireland. An earlier version of ISA (UK and Ireland) 700 currently applies in Ireland and ISAs (UK and Ireland) 705 and 706 are not in effect in Ireland. The APB is also proposing changes to ISAs (UK and Ireland) 705 and 706 to more fully align their requirements with those of ISA (UK and Ireland) 700 and with the illustrative example auditor’s reports that it has previously published.

Richard Fleck, Chairman of the APB and a director of the FRC commented:

“The APB, on the advice of its Irish Consultative Committee, believes that the time is now right for Irish auditors to adopt the clarified reporting ISAs (UK and Ireland). The principal benefit of making this change will be to enable Irish auditor’s reports to be more concise, with less boilerplate. In particular, ISA (UK and Ireland) 700 permits cross reference to a ‘Statement of the Scope of an Audit’ maintained on a separate web-site rather than inclusion of a description within the auditor’s report”.


An illustrative example of an Irish auditor’s report, which follows the requirements of ISA (UK and Ireland) 700, is set out on page 17 of the Consultation Paper. The APB will issue a compendium bulletin of Irish auditor’s reports at the same time as it issues final versions of the ISAs (UK and Ireland).

The proposed changes should not affect auditor’s reports issued by UK auditors that follow the APB’s illustrative examples in Bulletin 2010/2 (Revised).

The Consultation Paper may be downloaded from the Publications (Consultations) section of this website
Notes to Editors 

  1. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting high quality corporate governance and reporting to foster investment.

  2. The APB is committed to leading the development of auditing practice in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland so as to:

    • establish high standards of auditing;

    • meet the developing needs of users of financial information; and

    • ensure public confidence in auditing.

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