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Amended Audit Guidance Statement (AGS) 9, Opinion on Receipts, Expenditure, Investment of Moneys and the Acquisition and Disposal of Assets by Statutory Boards

AGS 9 provides guidance for work performed by auditors of statutory boards (SBs) on whether the receipts, expenditure, investment of moneys and the acquisition and disposal of assets by SBs are in accordance with the relevant Acts and regulations. 

With the enactment of the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018 (PSG Act), the provisions that cover the finance related requirements relating to the preparation and adoption of budget estimates, the keeping of proper accounts, audit requirements and the presentation of the audited financial statements and annual reports to Parliament have been repealed from the constitutional Acts of the respective SBs and are now instituted in the PSG Act. 

Arising from the enactment of the PSG Act, the following key amendments have been made to AGS 9:

  • The “compliance requirements” have been updated to include the PSG Act and requirements of any other written law applicable to moneys of or managed by the SB;
  • A footnote has been added to highlight that the PSG Act does not apply to all SBs in Singapore and the auditor should check the applicability of the PSG Act to the SB;
  • A footnote has been added to provide guidance on the “written law applicable to moneys of or managed by the SB”;
  • The term “statutory board act” has been amended to “constitutional Act of the statutory board” as this is the term used in the PSG Act;
  • The “constitutional Act of statutory board” has been defined based on the definition in the PSG Act;
  • Management’s responsibility has been expanded to include the monitoring of compliance requirements relevant to the SB;
  • A possible audit procedure – to understand from management the other written law applicable to moneys of or managed by the SB, and request management to consult their legal department or legal advisor on the completeness of applicable written laws, has been included;
  • A procedure to obtain written representation that management has disclosed to the auditor all the compliance requirements, including the written laws applicable to moneys of or managed by the SB has been included; and
  • The illustrative auditor’s reports have been updated.

The amendments are conforming in nature but do not give rise to changes in auditing principles.

Effective date

The amendments are effective for audits of financial statements for periods beginning on or after 1 April 2018.


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