Singapore Exchange and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) have jointly issued a guidebook entitled Guidance to Audit Committees on Evaluation of Quality of Work Performed by External Auditors.

The guide aims to strengthen the quality of audit among companies in Singapore by providing practical guidance to assist the Board and Audit Committees in the evaluation of work performed by their external auditors.

It focuses on four key indicators of audit quality observed through ACRA’s Practice Monitoring Programme (PMP), a programme that assesses public accountants’ compliance with auditing standards and pronouncements. The four indicators of audit quality, also known as E-A-S-E indicators, are:

• Emphasis on quality by the audit engagement partner and the audit firm;
• Allocation of adequate and appropriate human resources;
• Substantial involvement of the audit engagement partner; and
• Exercise of professional scepticism.

The guide also includes a set of sample guidance questions that are directly relevant to the identified indicators of audit quality and help audit committees in discharge their statutory and fiduciary duties.

The guidance is available here.