Acca aaa s21 Notes

3. Tendering for professional services
Often, to obtain new work, accountants will be asked to submit a tender in competition with other 
firms. Before submitting a tender, contact must be made with the existing or previous accountant (see 
section 5, below) to see if there are any reasons why the appointment should not be accepted.
The fees quoted can can be whatever the accountant thinks appropriate, but there can be threats to 
compliance with the fundamental principles. For example, if the fee were so low that it would be 
difficult to carry out the work to the required standard of competence and due care. The IESBA states 
that:
๏
Auditors should perform high quality audits irrespective of the audit fee charged.
๏
Adequate time must be planned and spent to enable the audit to be performed in accordance 
with the technical and professional standards.
๏
Audit personnel with appropriate expertise and experience should be assigned to the work.
๏
Two-way communication between the auditors and those charged with governance (TCWG) to 
mitigate the threats that can arise from fee pressure.
September 2021 to June 2022 exams
Watch free ACCA AAA lectures 
18

---

Only on 
OpenTuition
you can find: Free ACCA notes 
•
Free ACCA lectures 
•
Free ACCA tests 
•
Free ACCA tutor support 
•
The largest ACCA community
There is no set format for a tender document, but a little thought will show that something like the 
following would be usual for a tender for audit work:
๏
A brief introduction to the accountancy firm.
๏
Areas of expertise and specialisms.
๏
A reiteration of the requirements of the client (to confirm understanding) and suggestions for 
other work that might be needed.
๏
An outline of the proposed audit approach. For example:
‣
Planning.
‣
Assessment of the system of internal controls.
‣
Testing internal control and reporting on control weaknesses (interim audit timing might be 
suggested).
‣
Possible use of internal audit for some aspects of the audit.
๏
Timing of the final audit and suggested dates for auditor’s report signature.
๏
Work do be done at the final audit stage (eg attend inventory counts at certain branches etc).
๏
Planned use of computer assisted audit techniques.
๏
Quality control steps and systems that the firm uses to ensure that a ‘good’ audit will be 
performed.
๏
Key partner’s and manager’s name. Details of audit team composition.
๏
Fee and the basis of its calculation. Invoicing arrangements and terms of payment.
๏
Any other services (that are not prohibited) that the firm may provide (eg corporate financial 
advice).