Subsection 2: Certification of accounts

The professional practice standard relating to the documentation of the audit of accounts, approved by the Minister of Justice, is shown below:

. NEP-230. Documentation of the audit of accounts

Introduction

01. The statutory auditor shall establish for each entity it audits a file containing the documentation of the audit of the accounts. This obligation arises from the provisions of article R. 823-10 of the French Commercial Code.

02. The statutory auditor shall include in his file the documents that make it possible to support the opinion expressed in his report and that make it possible to establish that the audit of the accounts was carried out in compliance with the legal and regulatory texts and in accordance with professional practice standards.

03. The purpose of this standard is to define the principles relating to the documentation of the work carried out by the statutory auditor in the context of his audit assignment.

Other professional practice standards provide guidance on the documentation of the work carried out by the statutory auditor in the context of his audit assignment. Certain other professional practice standards provide clarification on specific items to be included in the file without calling into question the principles set out in this standard.

Form, content and scope of documentation

04. The statutory auditor shall document such matters as will enable any other person experienced in the practice of auditing and not involved in the engagement to be able to understand:

-the planning of the audit, the main elements of which are formalised in the engagement plan and work programme;

-the nature, timing and extent of audit procedures performed;

-the characteristics that make it possible to identify the elements that it has tested in order to specify the scope of the procedures performed;

the results of these procedures and the elements collected;

-problems concerning significant elements of the product -problems concerning significant elements of the accounts that were identified during the audit and the auditor's conclusions on these problems.

05. The statutory auditor shall also formalise in his file any exchanges that have taken place with the entity's management or with other interlocutors in respect of significant elements of the accounts.

Where the statutory auditor identifies information that is contradictory or inconsistent with the conclusion he has reached on an issue relating to material items in the accounts, he shall document in the file the manner in which he has dealt with this contradiction or inconsistency in reaching his final conclusion.

. 06. The statutory auditor shall formalise the documentation on paper, electronically or on any other medium that enables all legible data to be retained for the statutory retention period.

. 07. Pursuant to Article R. 823-10 of the Commercial Code, the statutory auditor shall provide the explanations and justifications that the supervisory authorities consider necessary. These explanations and justifications do not constitute part of the documentation, even if they are provided by the statutory auditor to clarify the information contained in his file.

08. The items of documentation in the file mention the identity of the member of the audit team who carried out the work and the date on which it was carried out.

If there is a review of the work carried out by the auditor, the auditor should be informed of this. If there is a review of the work, the documentation also mentions the identity of the person who carried out the review and the date and scope of the review.

Timetable

09. The statutory auditor shall document his work as and when it is carried out and within a timeframe that is compatible with its review.

After the date of signature of his report, the statutory auditor may not make any substantive changes to the documentation. He may only make formal changes or review their classification within a period of sixty days after the date on which the report on the accounts is signed.

10. When the statutory auditor becomes aware, between the date of signature of his report and the date of approval of the accounts, of an event that leads him to implement new audit procedures or to formulate new conclusions, he shall complete his file by recording:

-the circumstances in which the event occurred;

-the nature of the event;

the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed as a result;

-the characteristics that enable the identification of the event -the characteristics that make it possible to identify the elements that it has tested in order to specify the scope of the procedures carried out;

-the results of these procedures and the elements collected.

This includes events after the end of the financial year.

11. In accordance with the provisions of article R. 821-68 of the French Commercial Code, without prejudice to the provisions of paragraphs 74 and 75 of the standard of professional practice relating to the obligations of the statutory auditor with regard to the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, the file is kept in its entirety for the statutory retention period of six years.