CONTENTS

PREFACE

AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Paragraphs

Application.................................. 1-2

Operative Date................................ 3

Introduction.................................. 4-9

Relationship of External Confirmation Procedures to the Auditor’s Assessments of the Risks of Material Misstatement 10-14

Assertions Addressed by External Confirmations......... 15-19

Design of the External Confirmation Request............ 20-23

Use of Positive and Negative Confirmations............ 24-28

Requests by Those Charged with Governance and Management 29-31

Characteristics of Respondents..................... 32-33

The External Confirmation Process .................. 34-35

No Response to a Positive Confirmation Request......... 36-37

Reliability of Responses Received................... 38

Causes and Frequency of Exceptions................. 39-41

Evaluating the Results of the Confirmation Process........ 42-43

External Confirmations Prior to the Year-End........... 44

Conformity with International Standards on Auditing...... 45