Monthly Commentary

November is here, and it feels like the year is motoring away at high speed!

We hope you are all doing well and meeting your deadlines. Along those lines, we have been asked to consider building, or at least integrating with, a project management tool to manage your work. See the "Have Your Say" section at the bottom. Also a reminder that the new Tier 3 and 4 standards, and the new NZ AS1 (revised) standard for Service Performance are nearly upon us. Don't be caught unprepared. See the article below. 

We are seeing a trend among our users to be contracting school audits. There are a couple of updates below that you should find helpful and interesting if this includes you.

Our Sharepoint integration will be open for general release this month – we hope you find that useful. We are currently making some updates based on user feedback.

Finally, we are considering running a live conference next year in place of our normal updates roadshow, and making it into a serious event in the audit calendar. See below - and be sure to post your feedback.

Warm regards,
Clive and the AA team

News & Technical Articles

Training

We have toyed with the idea of hosting an annual one-day live audit conference for some time - possibly one for the South Island and one for the North. It would be held near main centre airports so access is easy. The format would be speakers addressing general audit topics relevant to SME audits for several sessions, then a session or sessions specifically on Audit Assistant latest features and content. We know that the value of live conferences is mostly in the networking, so we would allow plenty of opportunities for interaction. We would also provide the opportunity for live-streaming for those unable to attend in person. We would love your feedback.

Want some tailored in house training? Let us know.

Content Updates

Updated Schools template

We are in the final stages of updating the schools template. For those that want to make a start on their new school year it is safe to go ahead and use the existing template, but to upgrade it when we release the new version. There are some additional questions going into the questionnaires, so we suggest holding back on those until the new version is done. The major change is the addition of many new templates for additional work - both AA testing pages and Excel supplementary pages that can be used if required.

New default management points for T3 NFPs and Incorporated Societies

As Tier 3 NFPs and Incorporated Societies face big changes in their reporting coming up, we have added some new default management points. For example "We remind you there are significant changes introduced by the new Tier 3 standard – now called  “Tier 3 (NFP) Standard –  Reporting Requirements for Tier 3 Not-for-Profit Entities.” The new standard has a mandatory date of 1 April 2024, meaning it must be applied for accounting periods that begin on or after 1 April 2024. An entity may choose to apply the Standard before the mandatory date for accounting periods that end after the Standard takes effect on 15 June 2023." Just start typing some key words in the management points tool to access these.

Updates to ISRE (NZ) 2400 Review Engagements

A new version of ISRE (NZ) 2400 was released that applies for periods beginning on or after 15 Dec 2023. Although the changes were insignificant we have made some updates and fixed the referencing. The hyperlinks also now link to the latest standard.

Release of ISSAI Public Sector template

Some of our Pacific Islands firms audit Public Sector entities using the International Supreme Audit Institution standards (ISSAIs). The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), an autonomous, independent, professional and nonpolitical organization established as a permanent institution, focussing on Public Sector audits oversees these standards. The audit standards are essentially the same as the ISAs, but with additional guidance added by way of the GUID 2900 document. If you are interested in access to this template, please contact us.

Product Updates and Issue Resolutions

New side-bar, summary page, and page display 

We are making a further transition to our AA version three (V3) this month in terms of updates to the look and feel of the main job interface. The shortcut tabs at the top of the client view will be replaced by shortcuts in the sidebar, including a quick search bar and 'breadcrumb' style bar to navigate back through the pages. The current index page will remain, but navigation around the job will be much more efficient from the sidebar. Key pages may be marked as 'favourites' for quick access. Some of the current side-bar information will be moved to a 'job summary' page. Users will be able to toggle between old and new views while getting used to the new styles.

Single Sign-on (SSO) with Xero or Microsoft - reminder

Audit Assistant users now have the option to sign in with either their Microsoft Work or School account or their Xero login. This feature can be turned on and off by the account owner or admin in the Security Settings, under 'Sign In.' To set up, link your AA account within MS/Azure or Xero. Once this is done, each user can log in using the single sign-on.

Update to Property Management template to allow for more than one visit

Previously there was just one testing page available in the 'Compliance Engagement - Residential Rentals (2024)' template. Now we have made the option to make multiple pages for three or more visits if required, Just name the new pages 'visit 1', 'visit 2' etc.

Tips & Tricks

Have Your Say

Audit Assistant's feedback board allows users the ability to post suggestions for new content and new feature ideas. This now automatically records the name of the submitter, allowing more meaningful interaction. Please add your comments to existing suggestions and add new ideas. We feature a new suggestion each month:

Disclaimer. These updates are designed to give accurate but general information. No liability is accepted in any way to any person arising out of reliance on the contents for any purpose.

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