Report date, report release date and documentation completion date

In this lesson you will

Distinguish the report date, report release date and documentation completion date
Compute the AU-C 230.16 assembly deadline and the AU-C 230.17 retention minimum
Apply AU-C 560 to subsequently discovered facts before and after release
Document changes made after the report date or after file assembly

Three dates, three meanings

Date	What it is	Source
Report date	No earlier than when you obtained sufficient appropriate evidence, including evidence that all statements and disclosures were prepared and management took responsibility	AU-C 700.43
Report release date	The date you grant the entity permission to use the report in connection with the statements	AU-C 230.06
Documentation completion date	The date, no later than 60 days after the report release date, on which you have assembled a complete and final file for retention	AU-C 230.06

The report date tells users you considered events up to that date (AU-C 700.A55). Your procedures, the representation letter (AU-C 580.20) and subsequent events work (AU-C 560.10) all line up on it. AU-C 220 requires the engagement partner, on or before that date, to determine through review and discussion that sufficient appropriate evidence supports the conclusions and the report.

The release date is usually later: the client approves the final package, you deliver the signed report. AU-C 230.15 requires you to document the release date.

Assembly and retention

AU-C 230.16 requires you to assemble the final file no later than 60 days after the report release date. Assembly is administrative: deleting superseded drafts, sorting, cross-referencing, signing off completion checklists. It is not the time to perform new procedures. AU-C 230.A24, as amended by SAS 146, notes that a firm's quality management system may set a shorter period.

AU-C 230.17 bars deleting or discarding documentation after the documentation completion date before the retention period ends, and that period is at least five years from the report release date. AU-C 230.A27 notes the firm may set a longer period.

Other deadlines key off release too: AU-C 265.13 sets the internal control communication deadline at 60 days after the release date. The days between dates calculator handles the arithmetic.

Changes after the report date

AU-C 230.14 covers rare cases where you perform new or additional procedures or reach new conclusions after the report date. Document the circumstances, the procedures, evidence and conclusions and their effect on the report, and when and by whom the changes were made and reviewed.

AU-C 230.18 covers changes after the documentation completion date in other circumstances: document the specific reasons and when and by whom the changes were made and reviewed, whatever the nature of the change. The post-release file changes guide works through examples.

Facts discovered after the report date

AU-C 560.12 says you have no obligation to perform procedures after the report date. If a fact that might have changed the report becomes known:

Before release (AU-C 560.12 through .14). Discuss it with management and, when appropriate, governance; determine whether the statements need revision. If management revises, perform procedures on the revision and either redate the report (extending subsequent events procedures and representations to the new date) or dual-date it for the revision, with representations as of the dual date. If management will not revise when needed, modify the opinion.

After release (AU-C 560.15 through .18). Same discussion and determination. If management revises, apply the dating rules; if the statements were already distributed, assess whether management's steps to inform recipients are timely and appropriate; and if the new opinion differs, explain it in an EOM or OM paragraph under AU-C 560.16c. If management will not revise, AU-C 560.17 applies: if the statements have not gone to third parties, tell management and governance not to release them until revised and reissued; if they have, assess whether management is informing recipients not to rely on them. If management does not take those steps, AU-C 560.18 requires you to notify management and governance that you will seek to prevent future reliance on your report, then take appropriate action to do so.

File findings

Release date not recorded, so no one can show the 60-day deadline was met.
Workpapers signed off after the documentation completion date with no AU-C 230.18 note.
A dual-dated report without the dual-date representation.
Retention schedule shorter than five years from release.

See the engagement completion checklist guide and the subsequently discovered facts guide.

Worked example

Oak Hollow Credit Services, LLC: putting dates on the timeline

Oak Hollow Credit Services, LLC has a December 31, 2025 year end.

March 20, 2026: management approves the final statements; the partner completes review. Report date: March 20, 2026. The representation letter is dated March 20.
March 27, 2026: the signed report is delivered and the client is allowed to use it. Report release date: March 27, 2026, recorded in the file under AU-C 230.15.
Assembly deadline: March 27 + 60 days. April has 30 days, so 4 days remain in March, 30 in April, and the remaining 26 fall in May: May 26, 2026. The team locks the file on May 8, 2026, which becomes the documentation completion date.
Retention: at least five years from release, so not before March 27, 2031.
AU-C 265 letter: due no later than May 26, 2026; issued with the report on March 27.

April 15, 2026, after release: the client learns a $310,000 receivable recorded at year end was fictitious. Materiality is $150,000, so the statements need revision. Management revises the note and the receivable; the team performs procedures on the revision only, dual-dates the report "March 20, 2026, except for Note 4, as to which the date is April 22, 2026", obtains a representation as of April 22, and, because the original statements went to the bank, confirms management notified the bank. The new work is documented under AU-C 230.14.

Self-check

Answer each question before you open the answer.

What is the difference between the report date and the report release date?
Show answer
The report date is when you have sufficient appropriate evidence and management has taken responsibility (AU-C 700.43). The release date is when you grant permission to use the report (AU-C 230.06). The 60-day assembly clock runs from release, not from the report date.
A report is released on September 10. What is the assembly deadline and the earliest permissible destruction date?
Show answer
Assembly by November 9 (60 days after release under AU-C 230.16) and retention until at least September 10 five years later under AU-C 230.17.
Before release you learn of a fact requiring revision of one note. What dating choices do you have?
Show answer
Under AU-C 560.13, redate the whole report and extend subsequent events procedures and representations to the new date, or dual-date for the revision only with representations as of the dual date.
Can you add a missing tick-mark legend to workpapers three months after the documentation completion date?
Show answer
Only if you document the specific reasons for the change and when and by whom it was made and reviewed, as AU-C 230.18 requires. Nothing may be deleted before the retention period ends.

Sources

Back to the syllabus

Standards are paraphrased from the primary sources listed above; read the source before relying on a requirement. This lesson is training material, not professional advice. Report an error