AG ISA (NZ) 200

At a glance

The standard expands on the underlying standard ISA (NZ) 200 (XRB website) in that you need to identify and report on any matters of interest to the Auditor-General regardless of materiality. Matters of interest include issues relating to effectiveness and efficiency, compliance with laws and regulations, waste, and lack of probity or financial prudence.

Introduction

Scope of this Statement

1. This Auditor-General’s Auditing Statement:
   1. establishes the Auditor-General’s objectives and requirements in relation to ISA (NZ) 200 Overall objectives of the independent auditor and the conduct of an audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (New Zealand) (ISA (NZ) 200);¹ and
   2. provides guidance to reflect the public sector perspective.

Application

2. Compliance with this Statement is mandatory for Appointed Auditors who carry out annual audits on behalf of the Auditor-General. This Statement requires compliance with ISA (NZ) 200 and the additional requirements included in this Statement.
3. This Statement applies to audits of financial statements and/or performance information commencing on or after 1 April 2023.

Objectives

4. The objectives of the Appointed Auditor in terms of this statement are to comply with the Auditor-General’s auditing standards which incorporate the Professional and Ethical Standards and the International Standards on Auditing (New Zealand) issued by the New Zealand Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.

Definitions

5. For the purpose of this Auditor-General’s Auditing Statement, the defined term listed below has the following meaning:

Appointed Auditor

means the person or persons appointed by the Auditor-General to carry out the annual audit or other engagement on behalf of the Auditor-General, and who are supported by other members of the audit team. Where an Auditor-General’s Statement or Standard expressly intends that a requirement be fulfilled by the Appointed Auditor personally, the requirement will indicate that the Appointed Auditor shall personally satisfy the requirement.

Requirements

Complying with auditing standards applicable to the annual audit in the public sector

6. Appointed Auditors shall carry out the annual audit in accordance with the Auditor-General’s Auditing Standards to achieve the overall objectives (Ref: Para. A1-A3).
7. Appointed Auditors shall assume a dual role of:
   1. expressing an opinion on an entity’s financial statements and performance information; and
   2. identifying and reporting on any other matters of interest to the Auditor-General regardless of their effect on the audit of an entity’s financial statements and performance information (Ref: Para. A4).

Application and other explanatory material

The Auditor-General’s auditing standards that apply to annual audits (Ref: Para. 6-7)

Appendix 1 – Auditing Standards that apply to annual audits

1: The ISA (NZ) Auditing Standards are scoped so that they apply to audits of “historical financial information”. However, for the purposes of the Auditor-General’s Auditing Standards and Statements, all references to “historical financial information” should be read as the audit of “historical financial and historical performance information”.