Transparency Report 2022
Our 2022 Transparency Report showcases our continuous commitment in bringing together our values, our people and our innovation into a system of quality management to achieve our quality objectives.
Welcome to our Transparency Report FY22
Trust in audits is vital to investors and stakeholders. It inspires confidence in the markets and is central to governance. At PwC Singapore, we understand that building trust is deeply rooted in excellence and transparency. We believe that auditors play a critical role in delivering sustained outcomes in an ever-changing business environment.
Our report provides our stakeholders with a view of our commitment towards achieving quality in every aspect that we do. The report showcases how we brought together our values, people, processes, tools and technology into our system of quality management to achieve our quality objectives and deliver trust to our stakeholders.
Our year in review
Navigating the impact of external factors on our system of quality management
The past several years have seen unprecedented challenges. From the global COVID-19 pandemic to the Russian government’s invasion of Ukraine (hereafter referred to as ’the war in Ukraine’), these events are first and foremost human tragedies. Our system of quality management (SoQM) reflects our response to these events and changing risks based on impacts to our client, our people and the way we operate, including new or revised policies and procedures in our firm that have been implemented or are under consideration at any given point in time. Under the Quality Management for Service Excellence framework, our SoQM is designed and operated to consider changes in facts and circumstances resulting in
- New or changing quality risks to achieving one or more of the quality objectives.
- Changes to the risk assessment of existing quality risks.
- Changes to the design of the firm’s SoQM, including the risk responses.
Sharing developments and experience
From the early stages of the pandemic, the PwC network put a team in place to monitor developments globally and to highlight areas of critical importance to ensure we did not compromise on audit quality. More than two years into the pandemic, we have maintained our focus on those areas impacting our clients, our people and how we work. We have leveraged the guidance developed by our network to provide consistent leadership to sustain audit quality and equip our teams to consider their client unique circumstances and respond accordingly.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in us facing a number of challenges in our audits. This ranged from how we operate as a team to plan and complete the audit, to how we interact with our clients to obtain the necessary audit evidence and execute audit procedures such as completing physical inventory counts.
Our network’s response to the war in Ukraine
The PwC network’s focus continues to be doing all we can to help our colleagues and support humanitarian efforts to aid the people of Ukraine.
The PwC network’s response to the war in Ukraine resulted in several actions including the decision that, under the circumstances, PwC should not have member firms in Russia and Belarus and consequently PwC Russia and PwC Belarus have exited the network.
In addition, the PwC network is exiting work for Russian entities and individuals subject to sanctions. Any sanction on Russian entities or individuals that is passed anywhere in the world will be applied everywhere in the PwC network. As of October 2022, our firm exited work for Russian entities and individuals subject to sanctions. The PwC network will also not undertake any work for the Russian Federal Government or state-owned enterprises and is also conducting reviews to identify engagements with non-sanctioned Russian clients and considering the appropriateness of any ongoing relationship.
Using technology to support teams
Our investments in technology and agility in upskilling our partners and staff to work seamlessly in a digital world have put us at the forefront in managing remote working during our busiest time of year without sacrificing audit quality. Our teams utilised available resources and worked cohesively to execute our audits remotely, wherever required.
Our network’s audit technology infrastructure and tools, including our Connect Suite, enabled our people to continue with work despite significant changes in the physical work environment.
Making a difference to our people
This year, we introduced our refreshed people strategy ‘PwC and Me’ to define what a career at PwC Singapore means to our people. Our reimagined employee experience empowers our people to support their own professional and personal development, well-being and ambitions. We give our people access to a comprehensive and flexible range of benefits including professional growth opportunities, monetary rewards and wellness programmes. We want to create an environment where our people can thrive and which is brought to life by technology so they can do their best work anytime, anywhere.
Our People Engagement Index, a formal measurement of the level of enthusiasm and dedication our people feel in their experiences at work, saw an improvement compared to the year before.
Making a difference in the community
Leveraging our diverse and multidisciplinary skills, our people work passionately to build trust and strengthen collaborations with community partners to help equip them with the right capabilities to navigate today’s emerging issues. We are dedicated to creating social impact on communities in need including the elderly and differently-abled, amongst others.
We have focused our efforts on sharing our work-related skills and experience to upskill individuals and community service organisations. This year, in response to high demand, we forged new collaborations with leading food charities in Singapore to provide even more volunteering opportunities for our people. We continue to work with youths through digital upskilling bootcamps. We have also spearheaded environmental campaigns within the firm to encourage ecological and sustainable behaviours, in line with our net zero agenda.
Tools and technologies to support our audit
Our tools
As a member of the PwC network, PwC Singapore has access to and uses PwC Audit, a common audit methodology and process. This methodology is based on the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs), with additional PwC policy and guidance provided where appropriate. PwC Singapore also applies additional policies and guidance, where appropriate, to ensure that each engagement is also compliant with the Singapore Standards on Auditing.
Reliability and auditability of audit technologies
Our firm has designed and implemented processes and controls to underpin the reliability of these audit technologies. This includes clarification of the roles and responsibilities of audit technology owners and users. In addition, we have guidance focused on the sufficiency of audit documentation included in the workpapers related to the use of these audit technologies, including consideration of the reliability of the solution, and the documentation needed to assist the reviewer in meeting their supervision and review responsibilities as part of the normal course of the audit.
Aura
Connect
Halo
Count
PwC’s Confirmation System
FS Review Suite of tools
PwC’s Data Transformer
“The New Equation builds on our ongoing commitment to quality, which together with our PwC Values, forms the bedrock of everything we do. Stakeholders today are demanding greater transparency and accountability from organisations. Correspondingly, audit quality has become even more critical to build trust and confidence in the capital markets and wider society.”
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