Joint Audit in South Africa

What is it?

A joint audit is where two separate audit firms are appointed by a company to express a joint opinion on its financial statements.

• It is fundamentally different from a ‘dual’ audit (or ‘shared’ audit) whereby one audit firm (or sometimes more) auditing parts of a group reports to another audit firm that ultimately signs off on the group audit.
• Statutory joint auditors MUST belong to separate audit firms. Joint audits usually involve two audit firms but a small number of companies have decided voluntarily to appoint three audit firms to perform their joint audit.

Why are we talking about it now?

The South African audit sector has been subject to close scrutiny over recent years, thanks in part to high profile corporate failures, as well as an acknowledgment that the market is overwhelmingly concentrated among just four firms. 

There are multiple reviews underway globally, each looking at particular elements which affect the industry. 

How does it work?

Who uses it?

Joint audit applies in a number of situations:

• Joint audit is mandated in France for all companies required to prepare and publish consolidated financial statements, as and banking entities with total assets in excess of €450m. 

• Joint audit is mandated in various countries for large banks or insurance companies, such as in South Africa for large banks.

• Joint audit can be (and is) performed as a voluntary arrangement for groups or even for individual companies, notably across Europe, including in the UK. Joint audit is fully compliant with ISA 600 (Revised), “The Work of Related Auditors and Other Auditors in the Audit of Group Financial Statements”.

For a more detailed analysis, please download our guide below