Reissuing an Audit Report on Comparative Financial Statements after an Auditor Change

Howard B. Levy, CPA

The June 2017 installment of this column covered “Reporting on Restatement Adjustments after an Auditor Change” (http://bit.ly/2pQMClB). This installment expands on that theme, providing guidance for when an auditor is requested to reissue an audit report as a predecessor auditor on the financial statements of a former client that are not expected to be restated, but will be presented comparatively with financial statements of a later period audited by a successor. This guidance would apply in virtually all instances when such comparative financial statements are intended for inclusion in an SEC filing, but not for private companies, for which reissuance is far less common. This is because merely providing additional copies of an original audit report when intended to be used with prior financial statements as originally issued is not a report reissuance. In such cases, the auditor has no responsibility to make further investigation or inquiry about events that may have occurred during the period between the original date of the auditor's report and the date of the release of the additional copies. The standards cited below apply only when the prior period financial statements are presented comparatively with subsequent period financial statements audited by a successor auditor.