译者注：本文是最新刊出的考官文章。其背景是，审计本质是对客户会计认定Assertions的审核。认定包括：余额Balances,交易Transactions, 披露Disclosures。一直以来，财报审计重点是财报余额和交易，而不是披露。本文对此形成补充。

Inrecent years, IAASB considered the issue of auditing disclosures in FSs,prompted by a number of factors incl developments in IFRS requirements & theincreased level of complexity & subjectivity involved in the preparation ofinfo to be disclosed in FSs. This article examines this issue, & remindscandidates to review the examinable documents list for guidance. 鉴于IFRS的发展和财报披露信息日益增加的复杂性和准备过程中的主观性，IAASB（国际审计和鉴证理事会）近年来着手财报信息披露的审计。考生要留意，这是P7考试范围。（注：下图是部分P7考试范围的截图。新审计报告和本文涉及的披露审计是16年关注重点。ACCA官方说Topics of exposure drafts areexaminable to the extent that relevant articles about them are published inStudent Accountant. 只要出了相关文章，就可能考。）

Disclosures in FSs 财报披露

Auditorsare required to express an opinion on FSsas a whole. This includes the notesto FSs which are an integral part of the accounts, providing additionalinfo on Balances & Transactions & other relevant info. Therefore, it isimportant that during all stages of the audit, the auditor gives appropriateconsideration to & plans to obtain S&A evidence in relation to thedisclosures in the notes to FSs. 审计要对财报整体发表意见，包括财报不可分割的附注部分，因为附注提供了关于余额和交易和其他事项的更多信息，帮助财报使用者经济决策。审计在整个审计过程中都要适当关注附注信息披露，并获取充分和适当的审计证据。

ISA200,Overall Objectives of the Independent Auditor & the Conduct of an Auditin Accordance w/ International Stds on Auditing specifies that FSs includerelated notes which ‘comprise a summary of the significantaccounting policies & other explanatory info ’. The notes to FSscontain different types of info, some quantitative & some qualitative, asrequired by IFRS. ISA200 审计目标和规范明确：财报包括相关附注；附注包括重大会计政策和其他解释性信息。根据IFRS, 附注分为定量的和定性两种，比如：

Quantitativedisclosures量化披露

1)  Disaggregation & analysisof balances & transactions included in FSs, like PPE, intangible assets,provisions, lease obligations, fin instruments. 余额和交易的分解和分析，如固定资产，无形资产，预提，租赁，金融工具等。

2)  Segmental analysis ofrevenue, profit & certain other items, & info about major customers(for listed companies). 分部分析，如收入，利润和其他信息，(上市公司的)重要客户信息.

3)  Summarised fin info inrelation to associates & JV. 联营和合资公司的汇总财务信息。

Qualitativedisclosures 定性披露:

1)  Descriptions ofsignificant accounting policies & areas where critical accounting judgmenthas been exercised, & rationale for any changes in accounting policies. 涉及关键会计判断的重大会计政策和领域，以及会计政策变更的理由。（注：IAS8; 比如中国钢铁业曾经统一延长固定资产折旧年限“改善盈利”。。。）

2)  Confirmation that GCassumption is appropriate or discussion of significant doubt over GC.解释持续经营的基本假设或有关重大顾虑（注：IAS1; 关于后者，请联想EOM意见，关键词DOUBT）

3)  Info on related parties& RPTs. 关联方和关联方交易信息（注：IAS24; 关联交易属于“性质”上的重要性事件，往往隐含欺诈或违规交易，属高审计风险领域。）

4)  Explanation of impairmentlosses recognised in the year. 年度减损（IAS36；一般企业倾向于少计资产减损，特别是无形资产，固定资产和存货，从而“保障”利润。）

5)  Discussion of areas ofrisk, e.g. those relating to fin instruments. 有关风险，如金融工具。

Akey driver for IAASB’s consultation & the exposure draft (ED), AddressingDisclosures in the Audit of FSs, issued in May 2014, is that in recentyears, IFRS requirements in relation to disclosures in the notes to FSs havebecome more onerous. The ED states that ‘over the past decade, fin reportingdisclosure requirements & practices have evolved. They now provide moreextensive decision-useful info that is more detailed & often deals w/matters that are subjective such as assumptions, models, alternativemeasurement bases & sources of estimation uncertainty. As these finreporting disclosures continue to evolve, challenges have arisen for preparers& auditors in addressing new types of quantitative & non-quantitative info’. IAASB2014年5月颁布这个ED, 主要是因为IFRS的发展和财报披露信息日益复杂。近十年来，财报附注提供更深入详细的决策辅助信息，而且往往是主观性事项，比如基本假设，估值模型，另类计量基础，不确定性估计。随着财报披露的演化，会计师（做报表的）和审计师们就必须着手处理财报信息披露问题。

The challenges for Auditors审计师的挑战

Risk of irrelevant disclosures & determiningmateriality过度披露和重要性：

IAASBis concerned that in some FSs excessive disclosure is being provided, sometimesof immaterial matters that do not need to be disclosed. This makes it difficultfor FS readers to focus on the important matters due to the ‘info overload’.This is a difficult area for auditor because often judgment is needed to decidewhether or not a matter should be disclosed. Companies might prefer to providetoo much rather than too little, in the aim of full transparency, but end upproviding irrelevant or unnecessary disclosures which obscure the rest of the infoincluded. IAASB担心，企业出于满足透明度的（公司治理）要求，而过度披露，提供过多不重要信息，从而掩盖其他重要信息。审计师面临的挑战就是判断某些事项是否应该披露。

Linkedto the point above, it can be very difficult to apply materiality todisclosures, esp those of a quantitative nature. IAASB has considered whetheradditional guidance should be given to auditors to help them to determinewhether qualitative disclosures are material or not by making a preliminary determination at the planningstage of audit of those disclosures that could reasonably be expected to influencethe economic decisions of users. This would help the auditor to better identify disclosures material bytheir nature or their monetary value, & to planappropriate audit procedures. 审计师很难在信息披露上运用重要性，特别是非量化信息。IAASB考虑提供更多指引，让审计在计划阶段进行一些初步判断（基于性质和金额）然后设计合适的审计程序。

Sourcesof info 信息来源：

Akey concern of IAASB is that the info included in FS notes, whetherquantitative or qualitative in nature is derived from systems & processesthat are not part of the G/L system. Examples could include, forward lookingstatements, descriptions of models used in FV measurements, descriptions ofrisk exposures & other narrative disclosures. This causes several potentialproblems to the auditor, respondents involved in IAASB’s consultations notedthat this issue poses some of the most challenging aspects of preparing & auditingdisclosures. IAASB的一个主要顾虑是附注信息来源，因为这些信息不是从总账系统生成的（就是说，附注不是账），比如财务展望，FV计价模型描述，风险描述和其他一些文字性披露。这对会计和审计都是个大挑战。

Oneproblem is whether the system or process from which info is derived, when it isoutside of normal accounting processes, has any IC to provide assurance on thecompleteness, accuracy & validity of the info. E.g., info on fininstruments may be provided by a company’s treasury mgt function, which couldhave very different systems & procedures to the accounting function, with adifferent level of control risk attached. The systems & controls may bedeficient, creating higher audit risk. This may particularly be the case whendealing w/ one-off disclosures, e.g. in relation to the situation causing animpairment loss. In some cases, due to lack of the documentation that wouldnormally be expected for more routine transactions or events captured by theaccounting system, it may be difficult to obtain S&A evidence on disclosures.一个大问题就是生成这些披露信息的系统或流程是否有合适的内控来保证信息完整，准确和有效，比如金融工具信息可能是客户资金管理部门提供的，他们可能用的是和会计部门不同的系统，有不同程度的控制风险。这些可能低效的系统和控制导致更高的审计风险。在处理一次性披露时问题特别大，如资产减损。有时，因为披露信息系统不象一般会计系统那样有详尽文档记录日常交易事项，审计师搜集有关披露的证据就比较困难。

Timingconsiderations 时点问题：

IAASBnotes that often disclosures are prepared by mgt very late in the auditprocess. Often, when the auditor is planning the audit, draft disclosures arenot available, so it is not possible for the auditor to plan the audit ofdisclosures until much later in the audit process. This could lead to higheraudit risk in that there may not be much time to assess the risk relating todisclosures & to perform the necessary procedures. This is especially thecase where disclosures are complex, e.g. in relation to fin instruments, or subjective,e.g. in relation to FV measurement. 财报信息披露往往准备的比较晚。审计师做计划时，披露草稿还没提供，所以就不能及时计划。这可能导致高审计风险，因为审计可能后来缺乏时间来评估披露风险和执行必要的程序，特别是在披露信息很复杂的时候，如金融工具或很主观的FV计量。

IAASB Proposals 提议

IAASBproposed additional guidance to establish an appropriate focus on disclosures in the audit & encourage earlier auditor attention on themduring the audit process. There is also a proposal to amend the definition of FSs contained in the ISAs, to ensure anappropriate emphasis on the importance of disclosures as part of the FSs. 为强调财报审计中的信息披露问题，IAASB早有准备，提议1）适当关注；2）尽早留意；3）修订审计准则里的有关定义，如：

Proposedchanges to ISAs include new application material to:

1.  Amend the term ‘FSs’ usedin ISAs to include all disclosures subject to audit & to includethat such disclosures may be found in the related notes, on the faceof FSs, or incorporated by cross-reference as allowable by some finreporting frameworks. 修订ISA里的“财报”术语 --- 所有披露信息都属审计范围；披露信息可能在财报附注里或包含在有关索引参照资料里（只要财报准则允许）；

2.  Emphasise the importanceof giving appropriate attention to, & planning adequate timefor addressing disclosures in the same way as classes of transactions, events& account balances, & early consideration of matters such assignificant new or revised disclosures. 强调披露审计的重要性，象审计交易和余额一样计划足够时间，及早考虑有关重大事项的披露（不论新旧）；

3.  Focus auditors on additionalmatters relating to disclosures that may be discussed w/ those charged w/ governance,in particular at the planning stage of the audit. 和客户治理层额外沟通披露事项，特别是在审计计划阶段；

4.  Emphasise that, whenagreeing the terms of engagement, the auditor should emphasise mgt’sresponsibility, early in the audit process, to make available info relevant todisclosures. 在达成审计合约时，强调管理层责任 --- 提供相关披露信息；

5.  Provide additionalexamples of misstatements in disclosures to highlight the types ofmisstatements that may be found in disclosures, & to clarify thatidentified misstatements, incl those in disclosures & irrespective ofwhether they occur in quantitative or non-quantitative info, need to beaccumulated & evaluated for their effect on the FSs. 提供更多的披露错报案例，明确（包括披露在内的）错报分类，要求累计和评估对财报的影响。

Interms of specific planning considerations, IAASB recommends improvements tosome aspects of risk assessment & materiality determination to encourage amore robust risk assessment relating to disclosures: 为在审计计划阶段加强对披露风险的评估和重要性判断，IAASB建议：

1.  Expanding the guidance onmatters to consider in understanding entity & its environment, incl theentity’s IC, & assessing RMMs for disclosures, incl materialityconsiderations for non-quantitative disclosures. 在了解客户以及运营环境是，多考虑一些事项，比如内控，评估披露方面的重大错报风险和非量化披露的重要性；

2.  Highlighting disclosures,incl examples of relevant matters, for consideration during the discussionamong the engagement team of the susceptibility of the entity’s FSs to materialmisstatement, incl. from fraud. 审计团队内部沟通时，强调披露重大错报的可能性，包括欺诈性的披露错报；

3.  Integrating the separatecategory for assertions relating to presentation & disclosure intothe categories for account balances & transactions to promotetheir more consistent & effective use. 整合三大会计认定（列报披露+会计余额+交易），就是强调（本来被忽视的）披露认定；

4.  Acknowledging & givingprominence to, disclosures where the info is not derived from the accountingsystem, & related considerations pertaining to this source of auditevidence. 特别留意从非会计系统生成的披露信息以及相应的审计证据；

5.  In relation tomateriality, clarifying that the nature of potential misstatements indisclosures, in particular non-quantitative disclosures, is also relevant tothe design of audit procedures to address the RMMs. 在重要性上，明确披露错报的性质，特别是非量化信息，和（应对重大错报风险的）审计程序设计密切相关。

Conclusion 结论

IAASB acknowledged that while disclosures have an increased prominence in FSs, the audit of disclosures is difficult for a number of reasons. Through a process of public consultation, IAASB proposed additional guidance in this area, to provide auditors w/ practical guidance & serve to reduce audit risk. 总（吹）结（水）。。。目的只有一个：降低审计风险。

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