The audit opinion is the firm's signed conclusion on the audit. Signing it freezes the file. Filing the return with the NDPC happens afterwards, outside Asiri. See the guide to the audit filing package.
Who can do this
Only the person named on the audit team as the signatory. In Scope & team, under Audit team, they are added in the capacity Signs the opinion, which says they must hold filing authority. The signatory must not have performed any test on the audit.
They must also be a current colleague at the firm, and the firm must have a current DPCO licence on record. Signing is a licensed act.
Check signing readiness
Open the audit and go to Report. When something is in the way, the page shows Signing readiness with the items to resolve. Press Review signing readiness to open the Audit opinion page. It lists Opinion blockers, and the registers the engagement did not cover under Out of scope.
Each blocker says what it stops:
- Blocks everything: the engagement has not been granted, or no tests have been performed.
- Blocks any opinion: tests still open, returned by the reviewer or waiting on review, core programme steps without reviewed working papers, or applicability decisions that need independent review.
- Blocks a clean opinion: a critical finding is open, a test could not be performed at all, or all evidence is declared.
- Blocks signing: a finding has no management response. Give management the chance to reply. If they will not, record that no response was received.
Out-of-scope registers block nothing. Each one is stated on the opinion.
Sign the opinion
Under Sign the opinion:
- Under Verdict, choose clean, qualified, adverse or unable. Only the verdicts this file can carry can be chosen. The page says which ones, and the blockers say why the others are not available.
- Check the Signatory licence. It is read from the practice record and captured with your signature. You never type it.
- Write the Basis for the opinion.
- Add Limitations, one per line, only for limitations the file does not already carry. Tests that could not be performed, an all-declared evidence pack and out-of-scope registers are stated on the opinion anyway.
- Under Review and confirm, if the firm asked Eri for a view, record Eri's proposed verdict and Why Eri proposed it. If you sign a different verdict, write Why you differ.
- Press Sign opinion.
The page then shows Opinion signed.
What happens when it is signed
The file is frozen from that moment. Nothing on it can change. The client is told that the firm signed the opinion. The opinion records the signatory, the time and the licence number.
Correct a signed file
A signed file is never edited. A correction is a new audit.
- Open the frozen audit and find Correct this file.
- Write Why this file is being corrected.
- Press Open a correction.
The new audit names the one it replaces and why. Both stay on the record, and each links to the other.
Common questions
"Can someone who did the fieldwork sign?" No. The signatory must not have performed any test on the audit.
"Can I change the opinion after signing?" No. Open a correction.
"Does signing file the return?" No. Asiri does not submit anything to the NDPC. Download the filing package, file it yourself, then record what happened.