Advanced Auditing, Assurance and Professional Ethics · Reporting

Other Information Section in the Auditor's Report (SA 720 Revised)

Updated 5 October 2026

Other information is financial or non-financial information in an annual report, other than the financial statements and your audit report on them. You read it, compare it with the financial statements and your audit knowledge, and report in a separate Other Information section when required. If a material misstatement is uncorrected, you describe it there.

Understand Other Information Section in the Auditor's Report

The auditor's opinion covers the financial statements only. But the entity's annual report also carries other items, such as the directors' report, management discussion and analysis, and the chairman's statement. If these contradict the audited financial statements, users can lose trust in both.

SA 720 (Revised) therefore makes you read the other information and consider whether it is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or with what you learned in the audit. You also stay alert to other material misstatements of fact. You do not give assurance on this information. Your duty is to read, consider and report.

For a listed entity, the auditor's report must include a separate Other Information section in every case. If you have not obtained, and do not expect to obtain, any other information, the section says so. For an unlisted entity, the section is required when you have obtained, or expect to obtain, other information. Where you have obtained other information before the report date, the section identifies it, states management's responsibility for it, states that your opinion does not cover it, describes your responsibility to read it, and gives the result: either you have nothing to report, or you describe an uncorrected material misstatement. Where you expect to obtain other information after the report date, the section states that you expect to obtain it, and for a listed entity it also identifies it. The report as issued has nothing to report on that information.

If you obtain the information after the report date, you still read it. If it is materially misstated, you request management to correct it and communicate the matter to those charged with governance (TCWG). If it is still uncorrected, you take appropriate action, considering your legal rights and obligations. This includes advising users of the report of the uncorrected material misstatement.

If you conclude that other information obtained before the report date is materially misstated, you first request management to correct it. If management agrees, you check the correction. If management refuses, you communicate the matter to TCWG and request them to correct it. If the misstatement is still uncorrected, you must describe it in the Other Information section. This is a mandatory reporting requirement.

Separately, you take appropriate action. You consider the implications for your report, may obtain legal advice and, where law or regulation permits, may consider withdrawing from the engagement. Withdrawal is not a routine step and is not a substitute for describing the misstatement in the section.

A modified opinion changes how you word the section. If you give a qualified or adverse opinion, or a disclaimer, consider the effect on the Other Information section. The matter giving rise to the modification may also make other information materially misstated. The section must then address that link.

Key rules to remember

Core duty: Read → Consider inconsistency with FS and audit knowledge → Stay alert to other misstatements → Respond → Report; The duty is to read and report, not to audit or give assurance on other information.
When the Other Information section is required: Listed entity: section always included. Unlisted entity: included when other information has been obtained or is expected; For a listed entity with no other information obtained or expected, the section says so. If you expect to obtain other information after the report date, the section states that. If you later obtain it and it is materially misstated, you request correction, communicate with TCWG and, if it stays uncorrected, take appropriate action, including advising users.
Content of the section (obtained before report date): Identify the other information + state opinion does not cover it + describe your reading responsibility + state nothing to report OR describe the uncorrected misstatement; Management's responsibility for other information is also stated.
Uncorrected material misstatement: Request management to correct → if refused, communicate with TCWG and request correction → if still uncorrected, describe it in the section (mandatory) and separately take appropriate action; Appropriate action means considering the implications for your report. It may include obtaining legal advice and, where law or regulation permits, considering withdrawal. Withdrawal is not routine and does not replace describing the misstatement in the section.
Modified opinion link: Qualified/Adverse/Disclaimer → consider implications for the Other Information section; Say how the matter behind the modification also affects the other information.

How to solve Other Information Section in the Auditor's Report questions

Use this order for any SA 720 case or written question.

1Identify what counts as other information: items in the annual report outside the financial statements and your report.
2Check the timing: was it obtained before the report date, or will it come later? Also check whether the entity is listed.
3Test for material inconsistency with the financial statements, or with your audit knowledge, and note any other apparent misstatement of fact.
4If there is a misstatement, state the response: request management to correct it; if management refuses, communicate with TCWG and request correction.
5Decide the effect on the report: if still uncorrected, take appropriate action, consider legal advice, and describe it in the Other Information section. Withdrawal is possible where law or regulation permits. Do not change the opinion on the financial statements for it alone.
6Check whether the opinion is modified. If so, address how the modification affects the other information.
7Write the conclusion in provision-facts-conclusion form and use the standard section headings and wording.

Quickest way: Four-question check

When to use it: Use for case-scenario MCQs and short written answers when time is tight.

Is it other information? Is it outside the financial statements and the audit report?
Is it consistent with the financial statements and audit knowledge?
If not, did management correct it on your request? If not, did you communicate with TCWG and request correction?
If still not corrected, consider the effect on your report and describe it in the Other Information section. The financial statements opinion stays unaffected unless the facts also affect the financial statements.

Common mistakes in Other Information Section in the Auditor's Report

Saying the auditor gives an opinion or assurance on other information.
Students confuse reading with auditing.
Fix: Write that the opinion does not cover other information and no assurance conclusion is expressed.
Modifying the opinion on the financial statements because other information is misstated.
Students treat any uncorrected misstatement as an audit disagreement.
Fix: An uncorrected misstatement in other information is reported in the Other Information section. The opinion is modified only for issues in the financial statements.
Skipping the request to management and the escalation to TCWG.
Students jump to the report wording.
Fix: Show the sequence: request management to correct, communicate with TCWG if management refuses, then describe the uncorrected misstatement in the section and take appropriate action, including considering the effect on the report.
Ignoring modified opinions when writing the section.
The two topics are studied separately.
Fix: Always ask whether the basis for modification also affects the other information and say so.
Omitting the section when other information is obtained or expected for an unlisted entity, or when the entity is listed.
Students think the section is only for listed entities, or only when other information exists.
Fix: State the rule: for a listed entity the section is always required, and says so if there is no other information obtained or expected. For an unlisted entity it is required when you have obtained, or expect to obtain, other information, including information expected after the report date.

Worked examples

Example 1

You audit a listed company, Meridian Ltd. Before the report date you receive the annual report, including the directors' report. It states that borrowings reduced during the year. The audited financial statements show a clear increase. Management refuses to correct the directors' report. How do you proceed and report?

Show the solution

Provision: SA 720 (Revised) requires you to consider whether other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements.
Facts: the directors' report says borrowings fell. The financial statements show they rose. This is a material inconsistency, so you must determine whether the error lies in the other information or in the financial statements.
Your audit evidence on borrowings supports the figures in the financial statements. You conclude that the financial statements are correct and the directors' report is materially misstated.
You request management to correct the directors' report. Management refuses.
You communicate the matter to those charged with governance and request them to correct it.
The misstatement is still uncorrected, so you must describe it in the Other Information section. Separately, you take appropriate action: you consider the implications for your report, may obtain legal advice and, where law or regulation permits, consider withdrawing. Withdrawal does not replace the description.
The report includes an Other Information section. It identifies the directors' report, states management's responsibility for it, states that your opinion does not cover it, describes your responsibility to read it, and describes the uncorrected material misstatement of borrowings.

Answer: The financial statements opinion is unaffected. The Other Information section states management's responsibility for the other information and describes the uncorrected misstatement in the directors' report, which is mandatory. Appropriate action, which may include legal advice, is taken separately.

Example 2

You issue a qualified opinion on Orion Ltd because inventory of a material amount is overstated. The annual report's management discussion says profit grew strongly, which relies on that inventory value. The management discussion also describes the company as having 40 branches. Evidence supports this figure. Explain the Other Information section implications.

Show the solution

Provision: when the opinion is modified, consider the implications for the Other Information section.
Facts: the inventory overstatement also inflates profit, so the profit growth statement may be materially misstated.
The branch count is supported by evidence and needs no comment.
After evaluation, you conclude that the profit growth statement is materially misstated because of the inventory matter.
Wording: you describe the effect in the section by reference to the Basis for Qualified Opinion section, using wording appropriate to the facts. For example, you say that the profit growth statement is materially misstated for the same reason as the inventory matter described there. The section must still contain its other required elements: identification of the other information, management's responsibility, that your opinion does not cover it, and your reading responsibility.
Conclusion: the other information is affected by the same matter that caused the qualification, so the section must say so.

Answer: The Other Information section describes the effect on the profit growth statement by reference to the inventory matter in the Basis for Qualified Opinion section, in wording suited to the facts, and still contains its other required elements. No comment is needed on the branch count.

Exam tips

Write the section's four content points in a list. Examiners look for them: identify, no opinion, reading responsibility, result.
Always show the escalation sequence in order: request management to correct, then TCWG if management refuses, then appropriate action including the effect on the report and legal advice.
In cases, state whether the misstatement lies in the other information or in the financial statements. The response differs.
Link to modified opinions in one sentence when the case mentions a qualification, adverse opinion or disclaimer.
For MCQs, remember that the audit opinion does not extend to other information.

Practice questions from Reporting

Other Information Section in the Auditor's Report: frequently asked questions

Is the Other Information section needed for every audit report?

For a listed entity, yes. The section is always included, and if you have not obtained and do not expect to obtain any other information, it says so. For an unlisted entity, it is required when you have obtained, or expect to obtain, other information. If you expect to obtain it after the report date, the section states that.

What if I find a material misstatement of other information and management won't correct it?

You communicate with those charged with governance and request them to correct it. If it stays uncorrected, you must describe it in the Other Information section. Separately, you take appropriate action. You consider the implications for your report, may obtain legal advice and, where law or regulation permits, may consider withdrawal. Withdrawal is not routine and does not replace describing the misstatement.

What if I get the other information only after the report date and it is misstated?

You read it and, if it is materially misstated, request management to correct it and communicate with those charged with governance. If it is still uncorrected, you take appropriate action, considering your legal rights and obligations. This includes advising users of the uncorrected misstatement.

Does uncorrected other information change my opinion on the financial statements?

No. The opinion covers only the financial statements. An uncorrected misstatement in other information is reported in the Other Information section.

How does a qualified or adverse opinion affect the section?

You consider whether the matter behind the modification also makes the other information materially misstated. The section then refers to that effect.