Summary: After five years of action by the newly established audit oversight authorities, numerous deficiencies have been identified in the audit processes in Austria and Germany. In Austria, this primarily concerns the standards for the general organisation of audit operations, but also compliance with the regulations on engagement processing and the acceptance, continuation and premature termination of engagements. In Germany, the deficiencies identified primarily relate to quality assurance during engagements and the implementation of the risk-oriented audit approach in the audit of revenue and trade receivables. The following analysis of the annual reports of the Austrian Auditor Oversight Authority (APAB) and the German Auditor Oversight Authority (APAS) compares the deficiencies identified in the audit of financial statements in both countries and compares them with the objectives of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR).
The article will soon be published in "Die Wirtschaftsprüfung".