Taux Et Tax D'audit

and also become familiar with the audit

methods and procedures used by the other

auditor. One way for this to happen is for the

group auditor to be appointed, along with the

other auditor, to jointly provide the audit opinion

on the individual financial statements of the

subsidiary. The two firms will work together to

plan the audit, gather evidence, review the work

done, and to finally provide the opinion.

Other benefits from a joint audit may

include better availability of resources and the

provision of a higher quality audit, as there will

be access to staff from both firms of auditors.

The inclusion of members of staff from the

group audit firm within the audit team of the

subsidiary should also improve the efficiency

of the audit of the consolidation process.

However, it may be difficult for the two

firms to work together if they use different

audit methods and it may take time to develop

a ‘joint audit’ approach. There will also be

cost implications for the client, as it will

presumably be more expensive to use two

firms of auditors to provide an audit opinion

instead of one.

Joint auditing has been the subject of

some debate within the profession in recent

times. This is largely because it is seen as a

way for small and medium-sized audit firms

to continue to be involved in the audit of their

client once the client has been acquired by

another company. Prior to the emergence of

the joint audit, it would have been most likely

for the existing auditor (especially if a small or

medium-sized audit firm) to be replaced by the

group auditor (likely to be a larger audit firm)

as the provider of the audit opinion on the

individual financial statements.

As more and more companies become

acquisition targets, it can be seen that if this

practice were to continue, the small and

medium-sized audit firms would continue to

lose audit clients to the larger audit firms,

and

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