ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. CA Magazine

    View the latest issues of the dedicated magazine for ICAS Chartered Accountants.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Find a CA
  1. About us
    1. Governance
  2. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Newly qualified
    3. Manage my membership
    4. Benefits of membership
    5. Careers support
    6. Mentoring
    7. CA Wellbeing
    8. More for Members
    9. Area networks
    10. International communities
    11. Get involved
    12. Top Young CAs
    13. Career breaks
    14. ICAS podcast
    15. Newly admitted members 2022
    16. Newly admitted members 2023
  3. CA Students
    1. Student information
    2. Student resources
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
    7. CA Student wellbeing
  4. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
    7. University exemptions
  5. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  6. Find a CA
  7. ICAS events
    1. CA Summit
  8. CA magazine
  9. Insight
    1. Finance + Trust
    2. Finance + Technology
    3. Finance + EDI
    4. Finance + Mental Fitness
    5. Finance + Leadership
    6. Finance + Sustainability
  10. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Business and governance
    5. Charities
    6. Coronavirus
    7. Corporate and financial reporting
    8. Cyber security
    9. Ethics
    10. Insolvency
    11. ICAS Research
    12. Pensions
    13. Practice
    14. Public sector
    15. Sustainability
    16. Tax
  11. CPD - professional development
    1. CPD courses and qualifications
    2. CPD news and updates
    3. CPD support and advice
  12. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  13. CA jobs
    1. CA jobs partner: Rutherford Cross
    2. Resources for your job search
    3. Advertise with CA jobs
    4. Hays | A Trusted ICAS CA Jobs Partner
    5. Azets | What's your ambition?
  14. Work at ICAS
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS
  15. Contact us
    1. Technical and regulation queries
    2. ICAS logo request

ICAS issues Corporate Auditor report

  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By James E Barbour CA, Director, Policy Leadership

26 April 2021

Main points:

  • This article highlights ICAS proposals as to how Sir Donald Brydon’s recommendation to establish a Corporate Auditor profession could be implemented in practice.
  • The WG comprised representatives from audit firms, business, and academia.
  • The WG recognises that there are various ways in which Sir Donald Brydon’s recommendation could be achieved but presents a three-phase approach which it believes provides a clear roadmap to enable this.

ICAS has issued a roadmap to the Corporate Auditor profession.

In 2020, ICAS established a Working Group (WG) to consider Sir Donald Brydon’s recommendation to establish a corporate auditing profession based on a core set of principles. The WG which comprised representatives from audit firms, business, and academia explores in its paper ‘A roadmap to the Corporate Auditor profession’ how this could be implemented in practice.

The WG establishes that the core principles for a Corporate Auditing Profession should be:

  • Auditing/assurance wherever applied is a specialist activity requiring high standards and skills consistently applied.
  • Such skills can and should be acquired through a formal training programme provided by a recognised expert education establishment accompanied by appropriate practical experience.
  • Successful completion of formal training in audit/assurance skills and processes would be attested by formal assessment and lead to the award of a new professional qualification of “Corporate Auditor” (Caud).
  • The Caud qualification will be THE senior specialist qualification in audit that is allied to core subject matter skills such as: financial reporting, cyber security, environmental information and others. To qualify for work in the audit and assurance of specialist areas will require core skills in these areas in “addition to” the Caud qualification; the Caud qualification alone will not suffice.
  • All corporate auditors will be subject to appropriate ethical and independence requirements.
  • A Caud qualification will once acquired, require continuous professional development (CPD) to ensure maintenance of skills and professional competence.
  • The Caud qualification can in the first instance, emanate from within the existing professional bodies that offer financial audit qualifications though may well in time sit within a new professional body.
  • The WG then sets out a three-phase approach which it believes provides a clear roadmap to enable Sir Donald’s recommendation to be implemented in practice.

Phase 1

Focus on the current financial statements’ auditor and suggest improvements that could be made to the existing framework to enhance audit quality and reputation of, and trust in, auditors of financial statements.

Phase 2

Focus on how to equip non-financial statement subject matter experts who would wish to carry out assurance work with applicable skills in assurance and related matters to enable them to undertake assurance engagements in their respective areas of expertise. Ensure that they are equipped to carry out such assurance work in accordance with an internationally recognised assurance framework as well as (potentially) to be better able to assist in an audit of financial statements.

This phase could be accomplished by the extension of the education, qualification, and regulation of the current accountancy professional bodies to embrace the wider remit of a Corporate Auditor.

Phase 3

In time and if required or desired, establish a new corporate auditor professional body that educates and qualifies those subject matter experts that wish to carry out assurance work in their areas of expertise.

Phases 1 and 2 need not be undertaken sequentially and in fact there would be considerable benefit if they were to commence at the same time.

BEIS Consultation

The WG notes that the Government has proposed in its consultation paper “Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance” (March 2021) to take forward Sir Donald Brydon’s recommendation to establish a new corporate auditing profession. The sequencing of actions envisaged in the WG’s paper is different in some respects to the proposals in the Government’s consultation paper but the WG considers the end result would be the same: there would be a Corporate Auditing profession that produces high quality audit and assurance of both financial and non-financial information and would be an attractive career choice for exceptional talent in the years to come.

Download the report here

David Cruickshank CA: A roadmap to the Corporate Auditor profession

By ICAS

26 April 2021

Internal controls – the debate will continue

By James Barbour

14 April 2021

2-23-marsh 2-23-marsh
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • CA magazine

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba

Accreditations

  • ISO 9001 - RGB (opens new window)
© ICAS 2022

The mark and designation “CA” is a registered trade mark of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), and is available for use in the UK and EU only to members of ICAS. If you are not a member of ICAS, you should not use the “CA” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services. The mark and designation “Chartered Accountant” is a registered trade mark of ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Ireland. If you are not a member of one of these organisations, you should not use the “Chartered Accountant” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to these services. Further restrictions on the use of these marks also apply where you are a member.

ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: