Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Bylaws and Rules – Standards – AS3

AUDITING STANDARD No. 3 – Audit Documentation

June 9, 2004 AUDITING AND RELATED PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE STANDARDS

Auditing Standard No. 3 –

Audit Documentation

[Effective pursuant to SEC Release No. 34-50253; File No. PCAOB-2004-05, August 25, 2004]

302

As of February 15, 2005

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Bylaws and Rules – Standards – AS3

Auditing and Related Professional Practice Standards Auditing Standard No. 3, Audit Documentation
[supersedes SAS No. 96, Audit Documentation]

Introduction
1. This standard establishes general requirements for documentation the auditor should prepare and retain in connection with engagements conducted pursuant to the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB"). Such engagements include an audit of financial statements, an audit of internal control over financial reporting, and a review of interim financial information. This standard does not replace specific documentation requirements of other standards of the PCAOB. Objectives of Audit Documentation 2. Audit documentation is the written record of the basis for the auditor's conclusions that provides the support for the auditor's representations, whether those representations are contained in the auditor's report or otherwise. Audit documentation also facilitates the planning, performance, and supervision of the engagement, and is the basis for the review of the quality of the work because it provides the reviewer with written documentation of the evidence supporting the auditor's significant conclusions. Among other things, audit documentation includes records of the planning and performance of the work, the procedures performed, evidence obtained, and conclusions reached by the auditor. Audit documentation also may be referred to as work papers or working