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The UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued revised versions of ISA (UK) 620 and ISAE (UK) 3000, clarifying practitioners’ responsibilities when they use the work of an external expert. The changes align the UK standards with international updates and new ethical requirements for using experts in audit and assurance engagements.
The revised standards address how practitioners evaluate an expert’s competence, capabilities, and objectivity. They also clarify responsibilities and reinforce the need to document that evaluation. The changes take effect for audits of financial statement periods beginning on or after December 15, 2026. The revised ISAE (UK) 3000 applies to assurance reports dated on or after that date.
Why expert work needs active oversight
Auditors may rely on specialists in areas such as valuations, actuarial estimates, complex financial instruments, engineering, or IT. Their technical work can be important to the audit opinion, but using an expert does not remove the practitioner’s responsibility for the engagement.
The revised requirements put renewed emphasis on how the practitioner assesses the expert and their work. That includes considering whether the expert has the necessary competence and capabilities for the specific task, and whether their objectivity could be affected by relationships or other interests. The audit team also needs to understand the work well enough to decide whether it is appropriate for the audit purpose.
For audit teams, the practical implication is to make the evaluation and review steps visible in the file. Documentation should show what work was requested, how the expert’s suitability was assessed, what assumptions or methods were considered, and how the audit team concluded that the results were appropriate evidence.
Steps firms can take before the effective date
Firms applying UK standards should identify engagements that rely on external experts and compare their current methodology with the revised requirements. Useful preparation includes updating engagement templates, clarifying consultation and review responsibilities, and training teams on documenting competence, capabilities, and objectivity assessments.
Audit committees can ask how their auditor selects and oversees specialists in areas material to the financial statements. The aim is to understand how specialist work is incorporated into the audit and how significant judgments are reviewed.
The changes are targeted, but they address a consequential part of the audit process: how expert evidence is evaluated and connected to the auditor’s conclusion. Firms that build the updated expectations into planning and documentation before December are better placed to apply them consistently when the effective date arrives.
