ICAEW advises on ABTA reporting arrangements

Sunday, 30 Nov, 2018 0

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is offering guidance to accountants who report on detailed financial information to the Association of British Travel Agents.

The Technical Release issued to accountants by the Institute’s Audit and Assurance Faculty emphasises the necessity of formal engagement arrangements separate from the audit, and the importance of following Technical Release Audit 1/01 ‘Reporting to Third Parties’.

The Technical Release Audit 2/02 refers to a new package of reporting arrangements developed by a joint ICAEW/ABTA Working Group. The package will help ABTA to regulate its members and be consistent with the Audit 1/01 reporting framework.

The package has three elements which should all be implemented:

a model tripartite agreement, to be signed by the firm, the ABTA member and ABTA;

guidance notes for accountants to help them appreciate the purpose of the returns and the likely issues for them to consider; and

the reports which are made on standard forms.

The standard format is for the directors (or equivalent) of the ABTA member to provide and sign for the information, and for the accountants to then report on its ‘accurate extraction’. The accountants’ duty to ABTA is limited to delivery of the reports in the agreed form.

Commenting on the package, Ian Reynolds, Chief Executive of ABTA said: “ABTA is interested in assurance from firms rather than wanting an insurance policy. The ICAEW has helped us come up with a format that will clarify and simplify the process of submitting ABTA Members accounts efficiently.”

Ian Dewar, a KPMG Partner who chaired the Working Group that developed the new reporting arrangements, said: “We are confident the new package could be adapted for use by third parties as it meets their regulatory needs.”

The new arrangements will be monitored by the working party and any emerging issues will be dealt with as necessary.

The model tripartite agreement and guidance notes are reproduced in Audit 2/02 and are endorsed by the ICAEW to its members. The standard forms for the reports are available from ABTA’s website at www.abtamembers.org/accforms

Technical Release Audit 2/02 ‘New Arrangements for Reporting to the Association of British Travel Agents Limited (ABTA)’ is available in full at www.icaew.co.uk/a

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