ACCA Strategic Professional · Advanced Audit and Assurance (International)

Completion and Final Review for ACCA AAA

Completion and final review is the last audit stage, where you decide whether you have enough appropriate evidence to give an opinion. You cover subsequent events, going concern, written representations, final analytical review, misstatements, reporting to those charged with governance and other information. In the exam, apply each to the scenario.

What this chapter covers

This chapter covers the end of the audit. The fieldwork is done. Now you must check that nothing has changed, that the going concern basis still holds, that management has confirmed key points in writing, and that the misstatements found do not change your opinion.

The topics link closely. A subsequent event may raise a going concern doubt. A going concern doubt affects disclosures, representations and the audit report. Uncorrected misstatements feed into your communication with those charged with governance and into the opinion. ISA 720 then asks you to read the other information issued with the financial statements.

This chapter connects directly to the audit report and to risk, evidence and ethics. In AAA, Section A case studies often put a completion issue late in the scenario. Section B questions may test one topic in depth. You are expected to explain the issue, apply it to the facts, and recommend what the auditor should do.

Completion issues appear in many AAA scenarios, because they decide the audit opinion, and the opinion is the outcome of the whole audit. Every AAA exam is written, with 80 technical marks and 20 professional skills marks, so you earn marks by applying procedures and conclusions to the facts, not by listing them. A student who can link a late event to going concern, then to disclosure, then to the report, shows the scepticism and commercial awareness the professional skills marks reward. The ideas are also reused across other questions, so time spent here pays back widely.

Completion and final review: topics in the order to study them

1Subsequent Events (ISA 560)Start here. It is the simplest idea, a timeline of events after the year end, and it feeds the next topics.
2Going Concern Review (ISA 570)Many subsequent events raise going concern doubts, so study it straight after.
3Written Representations (ISA 580)Representations cover events and going concern plans, and you need those topics first to know what to request.
4Final Analytical Review and Evaluating MisstatementsNow you step back and judge the whole set of financial statements and the errors found.
5Completion Review and Communication with Those Charged with GovernanceThis brings together your conclusions and what you must report, so it comes after the earlier topics.
6Other Information and Auditor's Responsibilities (ISA 720)Study it last. It is a distinct, narrower area that links to the audit report and your final conclusions.

How to prepare Completion and final review

Treat this chapter as one story: what you check at the end, what you conclude, and what you report. Practise with scenarios, not notes.

Read each topic once and write a short list of the procedures and the decisions the auditor must make.
Build a simple timeline for subsequent events: before the year end, up to the report date, after the report date. Note the auditor's duty at each point.
Link going concern to everything else. For each scenario, ask what it means for disclosure, representations and the audit report.
Practise the opinion logic. For each issue, decide whether it is material, whether it is pervasive, and what that does to the report.
Answer past-style requirements in full sentences, using the scenario facts, and finish with a clear recommendation.
Add the professional skills: challenge management's explanation, state what you doubt, and write in a clear, structured way for the reader.
Do a final pass on your own weak points and use the quick revision list the day before.

Common mistakes in Completion and final review

Listing procedures without applying them to the scenario.
Fix: Tie every procedure to a named fact in the case, and say what you expect to find and why it matters.
Treating every post year-end event as adjusting or as needing no action.
Fix: Ask whether the event gives evidence about conditions that existed at the year end. Then state the accounting and audit consequence.
Stopping at 'going concern is doubtful' without a conclusion.
Fix: Always finish with the effect on disclosure and the audit report, including the type of opinion and why.
Treating written representations as sufficient evidence.
Fix: State that representations corroborate other evidence and are never a substitute for it, especially on matters where better evidence exists.
Confusing the report modification for a material uncertainty with the modification for inadequate disclosure.
Fix: Separate the two questions: is the basis appropriate, and are the disclosures adequate. Then choose the opinion.
Ignoring professional skills and ethics in completion scenarios.
Fix: Show scepticism, question management's motives, flag pressure or integrity concerns, and present a clear, well-structured recommendation.

Last-day revision: Completion and final review

Subsequent events are events occurring between the period end and the report date, plus facts discovered after the report date, where the auditor has specific responsibilities depending on whether the financial statements have been issued.
Adjusting events give evidence of conditions at the year end. Non-adjusting events arise after it and may need disclosure.
Going concern is a management assumption. The auditor evaluates management's assessment and considers whether a material uncertainty exists.
If a material uncertainty is adequately disclosed, the result is an unmodified opinion that includes a separate section headed Material Uncertainty Related to Going Concern.
Where a material uncertainty exists but disclosure is inadequate, give a qualified or adverse opinion (ISA 570/705), depending on materiality and pervasiveness.
If the going concern basis is inappropriate but the financial statements are still prepared on that basis, the opinion is adverse.
Written representations support other evidence but cannot replace it.
If management refuses to give requested representations, consider the effect on the opinion and on reliance on management's integrity.
Final analytical review checks that the financial statements make sense overall and agree with your understanding of the entity.
Evaluate uncorrected misstatements individually and in total, and ask management to correct them.
Communicate significant findings and uncorrected misstatements to those charged with governance.
Under ISA 720, read the other information and consider whether it is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or with your knowledge from the audit. The Other Information section of the audit report is required for listed entities and where other information is obtained before the report date. It must state that there is nothing to report, or describe the uncorrected material misstatement of the other information.

Completion and final review practice questions

Completion and final review in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

Completion and final review: frequently asked questions

What does the completion and final review chapter cover in AAA?

It covers subsequent events, going concern, written representations, final analytical review, evaluating misstatements, communication with those charged with governance and other information under ISA 720. Together they decide whether the auditor can give an opinion and what it should say.

How do I answer a going concern question in the exam?

Identify the indicators in the scenario, explain why each matters, and state the procedures you would perform on management's plans. Then conclude on disclosure and the effect on the audit report. Use the facts given rather than a generic list.

Are written representations enough evidence on their own?

No. They support other audit evidence but do not replace it. If management will not provide requested representations, you must consider the effect on your opinion and on your reliance on management.

Is this chapter tested in Section A or Section B?

Either. A completion issue can sit inside a Section A case study, or a Section B question can test a topic such as going concern or subsequent events. All questions are compulsory, so you need the whole chapter.