SA 580 — Written Representations

Issued by ICAI AASB · Concluding

The Management Representation Letter (MRL) — what to include, when to date, what it means.

Objective

To obtain written representations from management that complement and supplement other audit evidence.

Key requirements

Written representations dated as near as practicable to the date of the auditor's report
From management with appropriate authority and knowledge — typically CEO/MD and CFO
Mandatory representations: responsibility for FS, completeness of information, disclosure of related parties, subsequent events, fraud, compliance
Specific representations on areas of significant judgement
Where reliability of representations is doubtful, consider impact on the audit

Typical procedures

MRL issued by management on entity letterhead, dated audit report date
Sign-off by CEO/MD and CFO
Specific representations on related parties, going concern, subsequent events, accounting estimates

Common pitfalls

MRL dated days after the audit report — breaks the SA 580.10 requirement
Generic MRL with no engagement-specific representations
No supplementary representations on areas of significant judgement

On CORAA

Full SA 580-compliant MRL template, 98 representations covering all required areas. Open the matching module →

SA 580 in practice

SA 580 sits in the Concluding phase of the audit. The Standards on Auditing are issued by the ICAI Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) and deemed to be prescribed by the Central Government under Section 143(10) of the Companies Act 2013. Compliance with SAs is mandatory for every audit conducted by a Chartered Accountant in India.

For authoritative text, refer to the ICAI AASB Compendium of Standards on Auditing at icai.org.

← Previous

SA 570 — Going Concern (Revised)

Next →

SA 600 — Using the Work of Another Auditor (Revised)