The main objective of an audit of financial statement is to enable the auditor to express
an opinion on whether the overall financial statements (the information being verified)
are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with an identified financial reporting
framework. Normally, this framework can be defined as the generally accepted accounting
principles (GAAP) such as the US GAAP or the equivalents in other countries. The
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) issued by the International Accounting
Standards Board (IASB) can also be considered for this purpose. The financial statements
most often included are the statement of financial position, income statement and statement
of cash flows, including accompanying footnotes. The phrases used to express the
auditor’s opinion are ‘give a true and fair view’ or ‘present fairly, in all material respects,’
which are equivalent (see Chapter 12 and Glossary for discussion on audit reporting and
related terms).