Grant Thornton Audit Review
Each member firm is obligated to submit to an inspection of its quality control system, referred to as the Grant Thornton Audit Review (GTAR), at least once every three years. The GTAR process is designed to monitor member firm compliance with professional standards and the global audit quality control policies and procedures. The GTAR is conducted by independent and suitably qualified partners and managers from other member firms under the overall direction of the executive director – quality control.
GTAR inspection teams review the conduct of audit work performed by each member firm. The inspection process includes an evaluation of policies and procedures of the member firm applicable to its assurance practice, benchmarking those policies and procedures against relevant policies and procedures of the international organisation. The inspection team reviews financial statements, audit reports and engagement work papers and files. The inspection team also interviews partners and staff on various matters.
The GTAR inspection teams assess whether a firm’s system of quality controls has been designed, implemented and is operating in such a way to provide the member firm with reasonable assurance that (a) the member firm and its personnel comply with professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements; and (b) the reports issued by the member firm or engagement partners are appropriate in the circumstances. These include leadership responsibilities for quality, ethics and independence, client acceptance and reacceptance, human resources, engagement performance and monitoring. The inspection team, as part of evaluating engagement performance, also reviews a sample of assurance engagements.
GTAR inspection teams use a proprietary Quality Monitoring Tool (QMT) to record and track individual findings. Member firm management is given access to the findings from the GTAR allowing the reports to focus on overall conclusions. This approach also provides an effective way of communicating the detailed GTAR findings and results to member firm management.
Upon the conclusion of each GTAR, the global organisation issues an opinion based on the inspection findings. The opinion on a firm’s quality control system will be one of the following:
- suitably designed and operating effectively (an unqualified report);
- suitably designed and operating effectively except for one or more significant deficiencies, (an except for report); or
- having material weaknesses in the design or operation of the quality control system, (an adverse report).
Where the GTAR identifies a deficiency, the member firm is expected to address the deficiency within a reasonable period of time and submit appropriate documentation. Where actions are required by member firms to address findings noted during the GTAR, a further visit or remote assessment is made to review progress in implementing these actions. Synthesising and evaluating programme results
There is a regular review of findings from the GTAR programme by the global leadership of assurance to consider whether there are any changes that should be made to training, audit methodology, tools or internal standards and guidelines regarding quality controls. A summary of the key findings from the GTAR programme is communicated to all member firms on an annual basis.
Remedial actions
One of our principal responsibilities is the setting and maintenance of standards for continued membership in Grant Thornton. These standards include compliance with professional, statutory and regulatory mandates governing the performance of assurance engagements. There are global policies for remediating violations and deficiencies identified in a GTAR. These policies include graduated remedial actions, up to and including referring the firm to the complaints and dispute resolution process. The type of remedial action recommended will depend on the nature, severity and frequency of the violation or deficiency.
Transparent reporting
The GTAR programme is a key component of our system of quality control, and provides information for member firms referring work within the network. To provide information to firms referring work within the network, the first part of the GTAR report, which sets out the overall opinion and includes a description of any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in the member firm’s system of quality control, is available to designated member firm representatives on the global intranet site.
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