SSA 810 (Revised), Engagements to Report on Summary Financial Statements

Singapore Standard on Auditing (SSA) 810 (Revised), Engagements to Report on Summary Financial Statements deals with the auditor’s responsibilities relating to an engagement to report on summary financial statements derived from financial statements audited in accordance with SSAs by that same auditor. The revised standard is based on the International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 810 (Revised) issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and is effective for engagements to report on summary financial statements for periods ending on or after 15 December 2016, in line with the effective date of the new and revised auditor reporting standards. 

Key revisions made to the extant SSA 810 include: 

a)         Extant SSA 810 requires the auditor to highlight in the auditor’s report on the summary financial statements (SSA 810 report) when there is a modified opinion, an Emphasis of Matter (EOM) paragraph or an Other Matter (OM) paragraph in the auditor’s report on the audited financial statements. As the new and revised auditor reporting standards require separate sections in the auditor’s report on the audited financial statements when a material uncertainty related to going concern or an uncorrected material misstatement of other information exists (i.e. these matters are no longer addressed using an EOM or OM paragraph), amendments have been made to the existing requirement in SSA 810 for the auditor to also: 

• Include a reference to the Material Uncertainty Related to Going Concern section in the auditor’s report on the audited financial statements and to describe the effects thereof, if any, on the summary financial statements. 
• Include a reference to an uncorrected material misstatement of the other information in the auditor’s report on the audited financial statements and to describe the effects thereof, if any, on the information included in a document containing the summary financial statements and the auditor’s report thereon. 

b)         New requirement for the SSA 810 report to include a reference to any communication of key audit matters in the auditor’s report on the audited financial statements (i.e. limited to requiring a reference to the existence of such communication without needing to describe, repeat or otherwise refer to individual key audit matters). 

c)         Updated illustrative auditor’s reports that are presented in a manner consistent with those in SSA 700 (Revised) in terms of the layout and content, including the ordering of elements (for example, the Opinion section is now positioned first), and use of headings. 

d)         Incorporated conforming amendments resulting from SSA 720 (Revised), The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Other Information.

Effective Date 

The revised standard is effective for audits of financial statements for periods ending on or after 15 December 2016, in line with the effective date of the new and revised auditor reporting standards.