An expert is a person possessing specialised skills, knowledge and experience in another field other than auditing and accounting. From his training and experience an auditor only has general knowledge on matters outside his profession and he is not expected to have the shills of a person trained or qualified to work in another profession. Consequently the auditor may need advice of other experts e.g. lawyers in arriving at the legal interpretation of legal cases against a client

Situations where the auditor may require advice of an expert

  1. Legal interpretation of contracts, laws and regulations
  2. Valuation of certain types of assets e.g. land and buildings, precious stones and minerals.
  3. In determining quantities and physical condition of assets e.g. underground minerals/quarries.
  4. Actuarial valuations
  5. Measurement of work completed/to be completed in contracts.

When deciding whether to use the work of an expert the auditor should consider:

  1. The materiality of the item being examined in relation to the financial statements as a whole;
  2. Nature and complexity of the item, including the risk of error or misstatements;
  3. The other audit evidence available with respect to the item.