Paragraph 1: General principles

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

. NEP-300. Audit planning

Introduction

01. The audit of the accounts carried out by the statutory auditor called upon to certify the accounts of an entity is subject to planning. This planning is formalised in particular in an engagement plan and a work programme.

02. The purpose of this standard is to define the approach to be followed by the statutory auditor in planning its audit of the accounts and in drawing up the engagement plan and work programme.

General aspects of planning

. 03. Planning involves anticipating:

-the general approach to the work;

-the audit procedures to be performed by the members of the audit team;

the nature and extent of supervision of the members of the audit team and the review of their work;

-the nature and extent of supervision of the members of the audit team and the review of their work;

the nature and extent of the resources required to carry out the assignment, including the possible use of experts;

- where appropriate, the coordination of the work of the audit team and the review of their work -where appropriate, the coordination of the work with the work of experts or other professionals responsible for auditing the accounts of the entities included in the scope of consolidation.

04. Where the audit is carried out by several statutory auditors, the elements relating to the planning of the audit are defined in a concerted manner.

05. Where the statutory auditor is required to certify both the annual accounts and the consolidated accounts of an entity, the planning reflects the general approach and the work planned for the audit of the annual accounts and the consolidated accounts. 06. The planning is carried out in such a way as to enable the statutory auditor, in particular on the basis of discussions between the signatory and other key members of the audit team, to give appropriate attention to the aspects of the audit which he considers essential, to identify and resolve potential problems within an appropriate timeframe and to organise the engagement in an efficient manner.

>. 07. Planning is undertaken:

-after the checks related to accepting and maintaining the engagement have been carried out, in particular those related to ethical rules;

after contacting the predecessor statutory auditor, in compliance with the rules of professional ethics and professional secrecy, in the event of a change of statutory auditor;

-before implementing the procedures relating to the acceptance and continuation of the engagement, in particular those relating to the rules of professional ethics and professional secrecy -prior to the implementation of audit procedures.

08. The statutory auditor shall draw up a written engagement plan and work programme relating to the audit of the accounts for the financial year. These documents include the main elements of the planning and, in accordance with the provisions of Article R. 823-10 of the Commercial Code, form part of the statutory auditor's file.

Article.do?cidTexte=LEGITEXT000005634379&idArticle=LEGIARTI000006271028&dateTexte=&categorieLien=cid'>provisions of Article R. 823-10 of the Commercial Code. 09. These documents are drawn up taking into account the legal form of the audited entity, its size, the nature of its activities, any control exercised by the public authority, the complexity of the assignment, the methodology and specific techniques used by the statutory auditor.

Engagement plan

10. The engagement plan describes the general approach to the work, which includes in particular:

-the scope, timing and focus of the work;

-the materiality level(s) selected; and

-the guidelines required for the preparation of the work programme.

Work programme

11. The work programme defines the nature and extent of the due diligence estimated to be necessary during the financial year to implement the engagement plan, taking into account legal requirements and professional practice standards; it indicates the number of working hours allocated to the performance of this due diligence.

Amendments to the engagement plan and work programme

12. On the basis of the elements collected during the performance of audit procedures, the statutory auditor may decide to modify the elements planned and recorded in the engagement plan and work programme. This may lead the statutory auditor to modify his general approach, to review his choices and to plan additional or different work.

The statutory auditor may also decide to carry out additional work. 13. These changes and the reasons for them are recorded in the statutory auditor's file.

Communication

14. At this stage the auditor may discuss planning matters with appropriate persons within the entity.