Audit Tender Guidance
This practical guide provides guidance for audit committees of a public interest entity undertaking an audit tender.
ICAS has published guidance for audit committees of public interest entities that are undertaking a tender of their external audit. Public interest entities are:
- entities whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market;
- credit institutions (e.g. banks and building societies); and
- insurance undertakings.
The objective of the guidance is to bring rigour to the matters to be considered by an audit committee when undertaking an audit tender and to the judgements which need to be made in each area. It highlights the main stages of the process and the key matters which need to be considered.
Ultimately the guide recognises that audit quality is critical and that the overriding objective of audit evaluation and tendering should be to seek to ensure that the auditor is delivering the quality of service the company needs.