International Auditing Standards in the United States, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 10

Audit Documentation and Working Papers

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the following issues:

• What should be the content of the working papers?
• What information should be kept in the permanent and current files?
• How long should documents be retained?
• How are International Standards on Auditing (ISA) different than Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Auditing Standards (AS) and AU standard?

Introduction

The relevant ISA standard on documentation is ISA 230 entitled Audit Documentation. This provides the basic principles underlying documentation. The purpose of ISA 230 is to establish standards and provide guidance on documentation. ISA 230 advises that the auditor should document matters which are important ...