The Respective Roles and ResponsibilitieThe Respective Roles and Responsibilities of the Auditor and the Auditor’s External Expert

The Respective Roles and Responsibilities of the Auditor and the Auditor’s External Expert

• Relevant auditing and accounting standards, and relevant regulatory or legal requirements.
• The auditor’s external expert’s consent to the auditor’s intended use of that expert’s report, including any reference to it, or disclosure of it, to others, for example reference to it in the basis for a modified opinion in the auditor’s report, if necessary, or disclosure of it to management or an audit committee.
• The nature and extent of the auditor’s review of the auditor’s external expert’s work.
• Whether the auditor or the auditor’s external expert will test source data.
• The auditor’s external expert’s access to the entity’s records, files, personnel and to experts engaged by the entity.
• Procedures for communication between the auditor’s external expert and the entity.
• The auditor’s and the auditor’s external expert’s access to each other’s working papers.
• Ownership and control of working papers during and after the engagement, including any file retention requirements.
• The auditor’s external expert’s responsibility to perform work with due skill and care.
• The auditor’s external expert’s competence and capability to perform the work.
• The expectation that the auditor’s external expert will use all knowledge that expert has that is relevant to the audit or, if not, will inform the auditor.
• Any restriction on the auditor’s external expert’s association with the auditor’s report.
• Any agreement to inform the auditor’s external expert of the auditor’s conclusions concerning that expert’s work.