The Auditing Practices Board (APB) has published a revision of Practice Note (PN) 11: 'The Audit of Charities in the United Kingdom'. The revised PN 11 was issued for public consultation in July 2008.
The previous version of PN 11 was issued in 2002 and supplemented by Bulletin 2005/1: 'Audit risk and fraud - supplementary guidance for auditors of charities'.
The update to PN 11 reflects:
- the replacement of Statements of Auditing Standards by ISAs (UK and Ireland);
- changes to the Charities Act 1993 (which apply to charities in England and Wales) as a result of the implementation of the Charities Act 2006 on 1 April 2008;
- changes to the legal and regulatory arrangements for charities in Scotland, including the establishment of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) which apply to accounting periods commencing on or after 1 April 2006;
- changes to the guidance on the Charity Commission's interpretation of 'material significance' in the context of whistleblowing responsibilities.
Illustrative auditor's reports for charities in both England and Wales and in Scotland were included in the consultation draft of the revision. These will now be included in a supplementary Bulletin to be issued shortly.