Northern Territory Auditor-General's Office, February 2023 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Tabled Paper 772
Tabled Papers for 14th Assembly 2020 -; Tabled Papers; ParliamentNT
2023-02-14
Tabled by the Speaker
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory under Standing Order 240. Where copyright subsists with a third party it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
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Tabled papers
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/898837
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/898851
Auditor-General for the Northern Territory February 2023 Report Page 122 of 131 Appendix 2: Guide to Using this Report cont Types of Assurance Engagements The amount of audit work performed, and the resultant independent opinion, varies between an audit and a review. The level of assurance provided by the opinion is either reasonable or limited. Reasonable Assurance A reasonable assurance engagement is commonly referred to as an audit. A reasonable assurance engagement is an assurance engagement where the auditor is required to perform sufficient work to reduce the risk of misstatement to an acceptably low level in order to provide a positive form of conclusion. Limited Assurance A limited assurance engagement is commonly referred to as a review. A limited assurance engagement is an assurance engagement where the assurance practitioners objective is to perform sufficient audit procedures to reduce the risk of misstatement to a level that is acceptable in the circumstances but where the risk is not reduced to the level of a reasonable assurance engagement. A negative opinion is provided that states that nothing has come to the attention of the reviewer that indicates material misstatement or non-compliance with established criteria. Audit Opinions There are 2 overarching categories of audit opinion, an unmodified audit opinion (sometimes referred to as a clean opinion) and a modified audit opinion. Unmodified Audit Opinion Unmodified opinions provide a reasonable level of assurance from the auditor that the financial statements present a true and fair reflection of an entitys results for the period reported. Notwithstanding an audit opinion may positively attest to the truth and fairness of the financial statements, additional paragraphs may be included in the audit opinion in relation to a matter the auditor believes requires emphasis. An Emphasis of Matter paragraph means a paragraph included in the auditors report that refers to a matter appropriately presented or disclosed in the financial report that, in the auditors judgement, is of such importance that it is fundamental to users understanding of the financial report. The inclusion of an emphasis of matter paragraph in the audit opinion is intended to draw the readers attention to the relevant disclosure in the financial report. An Other Matter paragraph means a paragraph included in the auditors report that refers to a matter other than those presented or disclosed in the financial report that, in the auditors judgement, is relevant to users understanding of the audit, the auditors responsibilities and/or the auditors report. Australian Auditing Standard ASA 701 Communicating Key Audit Matters in the Independent Auditors Report deals with the auditors responsibility to communicate key audit matters in the auditors report. The purpose of communicating key audit matters is to enhance the communicative value of the auditors report by providing additional information to intended users of the financial report to assist them in understanding those matters that, in the auditors professional judgement, were of most significance in the audit of the financial report of the current period.