ICAI issued Guidelines for conducting Distance/Remote/ online Peer Review
The Peer Review Board after due deliberation at its recently held meeting has decided to adopt conducting of distance/ remote/ online Peer Review. Witnessing the last 2 years of pandemic and the changed audit methodologies adopted for conducting audits, the Board thought it appropriate to finally adopt the conduct of Peer Review remotely.
On a broader basis, there is no change expected in the review process as compared to the physical mode of review as the objective of Review does not change. It requires the Reviewers (members of the profession) to ensure that appropriate audit evidence is available with them based on which they are able to express their opinion. The reviewer must ensure compliance with the regulatory norms including compliance with Standards on Auditing and there is no dilution (in any form) of Standards on Auditing and / or any other mandatory guidelines issued by ICAI.
Consideration for Peer Reviewers:
- The Practice unit and the Reviewers can opt for all communications by email instead of physical mode. The reviewer and the Practice Unit may consider to chronologically/ date wise arrange such communications for better controls.
- On receipt of Questionnaire from the Practice Unit (PU), the Reviewer can intimate the list of samples selected by him to the PU through e-mail in place of courier/post. The Practice Unit can arrange to provide the data/ documents required for the purpose of conducting review in soft copy format at the mutual convenience of the PU and the reviewer. The reviewer can also request for remote access to the Practice Unit’s platform for maintaining/ documenting the audit working papers. The reviewer can run through the mechanisms/ procedure through electronic mode to collect adequate audit evidence to form an opinion.
- The fact that the Peer Review was conducted through virtual mode should be mentioned in the Report submitted to the Board in the space provided for mentioning the dates of physical visit.
It may be noted that the above guidelines do not in any way dilute the framework under which the review is conducted and should be followed in letter and spirit. Further, the Peer Review shall be conducted only by the Peer Reviewer and/or one qualified Assistant who may assist the Peer Reviewer in conducting the Review.
The Board assures all possible guidance in case of any difficulties faced during the conduct of Peer review remotely. You can reach out to us at peerreviewboard@icai.in.