Audit Procedures and Documentation
Domain 3 tests the auditor’s record of work: what must be documented, when the file is assembled, and how later changes are handled.
SA 230 requirements
- Documentation must let an experienced auditor, with no previous connection, understand the work, results and significant judgments.
- Record identifying features of items tested, who performed and reviewed work, dates, and conclusions on significant matters.
- Assembly of the final file is completed within 60 days after the report date.
- Retention follows firm policy and SQC 1 guidance, generally seven years.
- After assembly, do not delete or alter documentation; if an exceptional change is needed, record why, when and by whom.
Worked example
During the audit, the team concludes that ₹75 lakh of inventory is obsolete after comparing post-year-end sales and technical reports. The file should record the inventory list, the sales evidence, the assumptions, the reviewer’s concurrence and the conclusion. If the client later provides a valuation that changes the provision, the auditor documents the new evidence, the reason for the change and the review, rather than silently replacing the earlier paper.
Traps
Signing off work after the report date; backdating review notes; keeping only the final conclusion without the basis; discarding superseded drafts; and omitting oral explanations that were material to a judgment.