Interpretation and Application of International Standards on Auditing

31

ISA 620 (REVISED AND REDRAFTED) USING THE WORK OF AN AUDITOR’S EXPERT

ISA 620 (revised and redrafted) outlines the auditor’s responsibilities concerning the use of an auditor’s expert in the context of auditing.

Auditors will often use auditor’s experts in certain fields in an attempt to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence relating to a specific financial statement area. For example, where an entity has a defined benefit pension scheme, the auditor may need to consider appointing an auditor’s expert to verify the actuarial information relating to the valuations placed on the pension scheme because the auditor will not be technically trained to undertake such valu-ations. Examples of other situations where the auditor may need to use the work of an auditor’s expert are:

• Valuations of certain types of assets, for example land and buildings.
• Determination of quantities or physical condition of assets.
• The measurement of work completed and to be completed on construction contracts.
• Legal opinions.

When using the work performed by an expert, the auditor should obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that such work is adequate for the purposes of the audit. The auditor has a responsibility to form an opinion on the financial statements and simply by using experts in various areas of the audit does not eliminate any of this responsibility. An expert may be engaged by:

• A client to provide specialist advice on a particular matter which affects the financial statements. ...