The Auditing Practices Board (APB) of the FRC has today issued for comment a consultation draft of a revision of Practice Note 25 “Attendance at stocktaking.” The consultation period ends on 5 October 2010.

The consultation draft updates the current guidance to reflect the issuance of the new ISAs (UK and Ireland) which apply to audits of financial statements for periods ending on or after 15 December 2010.

Richard Fleck, Chairman of the APB and a director of the FRC said:

“Following the publication of the clarified ISAs (UK and Ireland) in October 2009, there is a need to update the APB’s related Practice Notes currently in issue. Although most of the changes in this consultation draft of Practice Note 25 have been made to conform the Practice Note with the new ISAs (UK and Ireland), the APB invites comments on any aspect of the guidance.”

The consultation draft of Practice Note 25 (Revised) may be downloaded, free of charge, from the Publications (Exposure Drafts) section of this website.

1. The FRC is the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting high quality corporate governance and reporting to foster investment. Its functions are exercised principally by its operating bodies (the Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing Practices Board, the Board for Actuarial Standards, the Financial Reporting Review Panel, the Professional Oversight Board and the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board) and by the FRC Board. The Committee on Corporate Governance assists the Board in its work on corporate governance.
2. The APB is committed to leading the development of auditing practice
   • To establish high standards of auditing;
   • To meet the developing needs of users of financial information; and
   • To ensure public confidence in auditing.
3. The APB issues Practice Notes to assist auditors in applying auditing standards of general application to particular circumstances and industries. Practice Notes are persuasive rather than prescriptive. However, they are indicative of good practice.
4. The current guidance in Practice Note 25 is also largely reproduced in the previous version of ISA (UK and Ireland) 501. That guidance has not been included in the new ISA (UK and Ireland) 501, in line with the APB’s aim to reduce the amount of supplementary material within the new standards.
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