Professional Scepticism (Ref: Para. 13‑1Professional Scepticism (Ref: Para. 13‑15)

Professional Scepticism (Ref: Para. 13‑15)

1. Maintaining professional scepticism requires an ongoing questioning of whether the information and audit evidence obtained suggests that a material misstatement due to fraud may exist. It includes considering the reliability of the information to be used as audit evidence and identified controls in the control activities component, if any, over its preparation and maintenance. Due to the characteristics of fraud, the auditor’s professional scepticism is particularly important when considering the risks of material misstatement due to fraud.
2. Although the auditor cannot be expected to disregard past experience of the honesty and integrity of the entity’s management and those charged with governance, the auditor’s professional scepticism is particularly important in considering the risks of material misstatement due to fraud because there may have been changes in circumstances.
3. An audit performed in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards rarely involves the authentication of documents, nor is the auditor trained as or expected to be an expert in such authentication.[16] However, when the auditor identifies conditions that cause the auditor to believe that a document may not be authentic or that terms in a document have been modified but not disclosed to the auditor, possible procedures to investigate further may include:

• Confirming directly with the third party.
• Using the work of an expert to assess the document’s authenticity.