UK audit body opens consultation on plans to update public sector accounting guidance
The UK’s Public Audit Forum (PAF) has opened a consultation on revising the guidance on auditing public sector entities.
The PAF, a consortium of the UK’s four national audit agencies, are calling on auditors and other stakeholders to offer their views on plans to amend Practice Note 10, which provides guidance on auditing public sector bodies.
The consultation will seek views on the plans for various updates to Practice Note 10’s guidance that could see new guidance around materiality thresholds and ethical standards, with a view to aligning the guidance for public sector auditors with standards used elsewhere.
The consultation comes after Practice Note 10 was last updated in 2020 to better align the guidance with that set out under the International Standards on Auditing (ISA).
Oliver Simms, Manager, public sector audit and assurance at ICAEW, said: “As public sector bodies deal with significant challenges from rising costs to tackling climate change, it is vital that public sector audit brings confidence to citizens that taxpayers’ money has been spent effectively.
“We encourage public sector auditors and accounts preparers to respond to the consultation on Practice Note 10 to ensure that auditors interpret auditing standards in a way that results in effective public sector audit that focuses on the areas of most risk,” Simms said.