Specialised audit reports: ISA 800 and ISA 810

The standard audit report is written for a full set of general purpose financial statements. Not every audit fits that mould. A company may prepare accounts to meet a regulator’s rules, or a loan agreement. A bank may ask for an audit of one statement only, such as a balance sheet.

A company may send shareholders a short summary of its results and want the auditor to say the summary is faithful. Three standards adapt the audit and the report for these cases: International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 800, ISA 805 and ISA 810.

This topic covers all three, and links them to Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (CAMA 2020), which regulates what a Nigerian company must publish, the auditor’s report that must go with full statements, and the rules for abridged statements.

There is no written question on this topic in the November 2025 or May 2026 Pathfinder, but the syllabus asks for the form, content and use of specialised reports. The points are easy marks when they come up.

CAMA 2020 and published statements

Specialised reports exist because companies publish information in different forms, and CAMA 2020 regulates several of them.

The idea that links these sections to the three standards is that the report must match the statements. Full statements carry the standard report. Statements that are not full, or not general purpose, need a report that says so.

ISA 800: special purpose frameworks

ISA 800 deals with special considerations when applying the ISAs to an audit of statements prepared under a special purpose framework, a framework designed to meet the needs of specific users, such as a regulator’s rules or a contract. The considerations cover acceptance, planning and performance, and forming an opinion and reporting. Most of the standard is about reporting. A report on such statements adds credibility to them.

Accepting the engagement

The auditor decides whether the framework is acceptable by understanding:

• the purpose for which the statements are prepared;
• the intended users; and
• the steps management took to decide that the framework is acceptable in the circumstances.

The framework can be a fair presentation framework or a compliance framework, as under ISA 700.

Planning and performing the audit

ISA 200 requires the auditor to comply with all ISAs relevant to the audit. ISA 800 adds that the auditor decides whether any special consideration is needed. ISA 315 requires an understanding of the entity’s selection and application of accounting policies. If the statements follow a contract, ISA 800 requires the auditor to understand any significant interpretation of the contract that management made in preparing them.

Forming an opinion and reporting

The auditor follows ISA 700 and the other reporting ISAs. ISA 800 adds the following.

The syllabus example is a report on a complete set of statements prepared under the financial reporting provisions set by a regulator, a fair presentation framework. The opinion says that the statements give a true and fair view in accordance with those provisions.

An Emphasis of Matter, Basis of Accounting section says that the statements are prepared to help the company meet the regulator’s requirements and may not suit another purpose, and that the opinion is not modified.

An Other Matter paragraph says that the company has also prepared a separate set of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) statements, on which the auditor gave a separate report to the shareholders on a stated date.

ISA 805: single statements and specific elements

The ISAs apply to an audit of financial statements and are adapted as needed for other historical financial information. ISA 805 deals with an audit of a single financial statement, such as a balance sheet, or of a specific element, account or item, such as receivables. The statement or element may be prepared under a general or a special purpose framework. If special purpose, ISA 800 also applies.

• The auditor applies ISA 200 whether or not engaged to audit the entity’s complete set of statements.
• ISA 210 continues to apply, so the auditor considers whether the framework gives adequate disclosures for users to understand the information.
• The auditor follows ISA 700 and other reporting ISAs, adapted to the engagement.
• If the same auditor also reports on the complete set of statements, the auditor gives separate reports for the two engagements.
• The auditor does not express an unmodified opinion on an element that is a major portion of the complete statements if the opinion on the complete statements is adverse or disclaimed.

The syllabus example is a report on a balance sheet of a non-listed entity, whose opinion says that the statement presents fairly, in all material respects, the financial position in accordance with the requirements of the framework relevant to preparing such a statement.

ISA 810: summary financial statements

Many countries let companies give certain users, such as employees, financial statements in summary form. The entity may ask its auditor to report on them to add credibility. ISA 810 deals with this.

The auditor’s objectives are to decide whether to accept the engagement and, if engaged, to form an opinion on the summary based on the evidence and express it in a written report that describes the basis for the opinion.

Requirements before accepting

• The auditor does not report on summary statements unless he has already issued an opinion on the full statements from which they are derived.
• The auditor decides that the criteria applied by management in preparing the summary are acceptable. They may be set by law or regulation.
• The auditor gets management’s agreement that it is responsible for preparing the summary under those criteria, for making the full audited statements available to the users and for including the auditor’s report on the summary in any document that contains it.

Procedures

1. Evaluate whether the summary adequately discloses its summarised nature and identifies the full statements, and the criteria applied.
2. If the summary is not accompanied by the full statements, consider whether it says where they are available, or the law that says they need not be.
3. Compare the summary with the full statements to make sure it agrees with, or can be derived from, them.
4. Evaluate whether the summary has been prepared under the criteria, whether it contains enough information not to be misleading and whether the full statements are readily available, unless not required to be.

The opinion

For an unmodified opinion the auditor uses one of two phrases: “the accompanying summary financial statements are consistent, in all material respects, with the audited financial statements, in accordance with [applied criteria]”, or “are a fair summary of the audited financial statements, in accordance with [applied criteria]”. The term “true and fair” is not used, because summary statements do not contain all the information a recognised framework requires.

The report

The report includes a title, an addressee, identification of the summary and of the audited statements, an opinion and a statement that the summary does not contain all the disclosures of the framework, so reading it is no substitute for reading the full statements and the auditor’s report.

If the report on the summary is dated later than the report on the full statements, it says that neither set reflects events after the date of the report on the full statements, and it cannot be dated earlier. It refers to the auditor’s report on the audited statements, its date and the type of opinion.

It also describes management’s responsibility for the summary and the auditor’s responsibility for the opinion, with the signature, address and date.

If the full statements had a qualified opinion, an emphasis of matter or an other matter paragraph. But the auditor is satisfied that the summary is properly derived, the report on the summary also describes the basis for the opinion and any effect of the opinion on the summary.

If the opinion on the full statements was adverse or disclaimed, the report on the summary says that it is inappropriate to express an opinion on it.

The rules in more depth

Why the emphasis of matter paragraph is required in ISA 800

Special purpose statements are prepared for one audience. Without a warning, someone else might take them as general purpose statements. The paragraph is not a modification. It is a required alert, and it sits with a clear statement that the opinion is not modified.

Why “true and fair” is not used for a summary

A summary leaves out disclosures. The auditor can say that it is consistent with the audited statements or a fair summary of them, because that can be checked. The auditor cannot say that it gives a true and fair view of the entity, because it does not contain what is needed to give that view.

Small companies and special reports

Section 402 of CAMA 2020 exempts small companies from the audit requirement. A small company that is exempt may still be asked by a lender, a regulator or an investor for a report. That report is not a statutory audit report under section 404.

It is a separate engagement, with its own terms, which could be an audit under ISA 800 or ISA 805, a review or an agreed-upon procedures engagement, depending on what the user needs.

Worked example: checking a summary

Scenario. Orchid Plc’s directors want to publish a one-page summary in newspapers, as permitted for abridged statements under s. 399 of CAMA 2020. The auditor has given an unmodified opinion on the full statements, dated 10 April 2026, and is asked to report on the summary, dated 20 April 2026. The summary shows revenue of ₦560 million, profit before tax of ₦92 million and total assets of ₦840 million.

The full statements show revenue of ₦560 million, profit before tax of ₦92 million and total assets of ₦804 million.

Step 1: accept. The full statements have been audited and reported on, the criteria are the directors’ summary basis, and management agrees to make the full statements available and to include the auditor’s report on the summary in any document that contains it.

Step 2: compare. Revenue and profit agree. Total assets differ by ₦840 million − ₦804 million = ₦36 million, which is 4.5% of the total. If materiality for the full audit was ₦840 million × 0.5% = ₦4.2 million, the difference is nearly nine times that, and is material.

Step 3: respond. The auditor asks management to correct it. If management corrects the summary to ₦804 million, the opinion can be unmodified, with the phrase “consistent, in all material respects, with the audited financial statements”. If management refuses, the summary is not consistent with the full statements. The auditor gives a qualified or adverse opinion on the summary, depending on whether other figures also differ.

Step 4: the report. It includes the statement that the summary does not contain all the disclosures and is no substitute for the full statements and the auditor’s report, and, because it is dated 20 April and the full report 10 April, the statement that neither set reflects events after 10 April. It refers to the full report, its date and that the opinion was unmodified.

How to score full marks

• Name the standard from the facts. Regulator or contract points to ISA 800. One statement or item points to ISA 805. A summary points to ISA 810.
• For ISA 800, give the three acceptance understandings, and the required emphasis of matter paragraph.
• For ISA 810, say that the full audit must come first, and use the “consistent with” or “fair summary” wording.
• Link to CAMA 2020. Full statements carry the s. 404 report. Abridged statements are regulated by s. 399. Small companies may be exempt from audit under s. 402.
• Compare numbers and relate differences to materiality.

Common mistakes in the exam

• Using “true and fair” in a report on summary statements.
• Agreeing to report on summary statements before the full statements have been audited.
• Omitting the emphasis of matter paragraph in an ISA 800 report.
• Treating an emphasis of matter paragraph in an ISA 800 report as a modification.
• Giving an unmodified opinion on an element that is a major portion of statements on which the opinion is adverse or disclaimed.
• Dating a report on summary statements before the report on the full statements.

Quick revision

• ISA 800: special purpose frameworks. Understand purpose, users and management’s choice. Emphasis of matter says the statements may not suit another purpose.
• ISA 805: single statement or element. Separate reports if also reporting on the full set. No unmodified opinion on a major element if the whole is adverse or disclaimed.
• ISA 810: full audit first. Consistent with, or a fair summary of, the audited statements. No “true and fair”. Not a substitute for the full statements.
• CAMA 2020: s. 388 and s. 398 (full statements with the s. 404 report), s. 399 (abridged statements), s. 402 (small company exemption).

Practice questions

These are original questions written in the style of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) exam. Try each one before you open the answer. Full model answers follow the written questions.

Recall check: multiple choice

The real ICAN paper has no multiple-choice section. These questions are for quick recall. The written questions that follow are closer to the exam.

Written questions

Model answers

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