Agreed upon procedure

These kind of services are ruled by the ISA document ISRSs 4400 Engagement to perform Agreed-Upon Procedures Regarding Financial Information. The scope of the audit is generally limited to some items of the financial statement or other financial documents. Therefore the scope of the audit and the level of assurance is more limited than in case of full audit of the financial statement. The audit report, whose distribution is generally limited to the client, details the audit procedures performed and the audit findings, giving evidence of irregularities and reccomedations.

Agreed Upon Procedures engagements are generaly performed in connection with extraordinary operations such as merger and acquisitions.

Agreed Upon Procedures engagements are also applicable when the European Commission require the beneficiaries of funds related to the 7 Framework Programme for the European Scientific Research to obtain “audit certificates” in order to demonstrate the compliance of the costs claimed with the contractual provisions. In such cases the audit procedures to be performed are directly established by the European Commision itself. Similar services are also required by other national or international donors.