Background: The environment and the design of auditing regulation can vary significantly between countries, which can affect the form, content and quality of the audit report. The purpose of the International Standards on Auditing, ISA, is to facilitate the work for auditors on an international basis. Sweden today follows the RS 600 which is based on ISA 600, which contains standards for when an auditor use work performed by other auditor. In October 2007, came a revised and redrafted version of ISA 600 that will be enforced in Sweden in the audit of the financial year beginning on 1 January 2011. To what degree the new requirements will affect the group audit is clearly dependent on how the reporting, evaluation and instructions between the group auditor and other auditor has been carried out previously.

Aim: The aim with this paper is to explain the reporting between the group auditor and other auditor in an international corporate group. The aim is also to study the factors that can influence the final outcome of this report and why they affect the outcome. Furthermore, the paper will discuss the report process changes that could take place between the group auditor and other auditor after the introduction of ISA 600.

Definitions: This paper has a geographic delimitation to Sweden. The paper is delimited to only consider auditing of corporate groups whose parent is located in Sweden and subsidiaries are located abroad. This means that respondents are bounded to the group auditors.

Completion and results: Factors affecting reporting between auditors in an international corporate group turned out primarily to be language and communication differences, differences in accounting standards and determination of the materiality level. The risks are considered minimized through documentation reviews and both internal- and external quality controls. An understanding of social and cultural differences is a key factor to be able to have successful cross cultural collaborations. Education, experience and practise are the solutions to understand this issue. This paper demonstrates that cross-cultural training is not given at the accounting firms, which are proposed to be a beneficial investment. The instructions and contact with other auditors are expected to be put earlier after the introduction of ISA 600, also that the report itself will be more detailed.