SA 810 applies when an auditor who has audited a complete set of financial statements is also asked to report separately on summary financial statements derived from them, and it requires the auditor first to check that the summary was prepared from the audited full set using an appropriate, disclosed set of criteria, and then to form an opinion on whether the summary is consistent, in all material respects, with the full set in accordance with that criteria — it is not a fresh audit of the summarised figures.
The acceptance conditions before taking on this engagement
- The auditor must have expressed an opinion on the complete set of financial statements the summary is derived from — SA 810 cannot be applied to statements the same firm has not itself audited
- Management has to apply criteria for deriving the summary that are acceptable in the circumstances, and disclose those criteria in the summary itself
- There has to be no unresolved issue around whether the summary omits information necessary to avoid the summary being materially inconsistent or misleading relative to the audited statements
How the opinion links to the underlying audit opinion
| Opinion on full set | Effect on the summary report |
|---|---|
| Unmodified | Summary report can be unmodified if it's consistent with the full set and the criteria are properly applied and disclosed |
| Modified (qualified, adverse, disclaimer) | The summary report must also be modified, and describe the basis for the modification on the full-set opinion, unless the modification is already fully reflected and disclosed within the summary itself |
| Emphasis of Matter / Key Audit Matters in the full report | Considered for inclusion in the summary report where still relevant to understanding the summary |
Regulatory requirement
SA 810 requires the summary report to state clearly that the summary financial statements are not the audited financial statements, and to refer readers to the full set and the auditor's report on it — a summary report is never a substitute presentation offered without that reference.
This is practical guidance written for audit teams, not an authoritative statement of any standard or statute. Standards, forms and timelines change. Check the current text issued by the ICAI and the relevant authority before relying on anything here in an audit file.
Related resources
- Audit workflow & automationSA 700: forming an opinion, and what "true and fair" actually requires concluding onFinishing every planned procedure isn't the same as forming an opinion. SA 700 is the step that happens after the checklist, not instead of it.
- Audit workflow & automationSA 705: qualified, adverse or disclaimer — choosing the right modified opinionTwo questions decide which modification applies, and they're genuinely independent of each other — getting one right doesn't tell you the other.
- Audit workflow & automationSA 805: auditing a single financial statement or a specific element of oneAuditing just the receivables schedule for a lender isn't a smaller version of the full audit. SA 805 requires materiality to be set against that element, not the whole balance sheet.
- Audit documentationSA 710: auditing comparative information — corresponding figures vs comparative financial statementsA qualified prior-year opinion doesn't just disappear from the file this year. SA 710 requires it to be referenced again if the matter is still unresolved.
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