Audit documentation is the record of auditing procedures and documents applied, evidence obtained engagement or process.
Audit documentation
i. Can be used as a defence, if the auditor is ever accused of negligence;
ii. Makes the review of the audit work easier; iii. Represents a better level of quality control over an audit;
iv. Shows auditors in later years how the audit was conducted;
v. Can be used as a training tool for junior auditors;
vi. Ensures that members of the audit team are accountable for their work; and
vii. Assists to keep a record of all matters of continuing importance to future audit.

b) ISA 230 requirements
The auditor should prepare, on a timely basis, audit documentation that provides:
i. A sufficient and appropriate record of the basis for the audit report; and
ii. Evidence that the audit was performed in accordance with ISAs and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

c) Current audit files contain information that relate to a specific audit engagement. Examples are:
i. Management accounts for the current period;
ii. List of major schedules of balances;
iii. Management letter;
iv. Letter of representation;
v. Audit queries and their dispositions;
vi. Audit adjustments;
vii. Current period‟s audited financial statements;
viii. Circularisation letters and responses;
ix. Extract of minutes of board meetings held during the period;
x. Current period‟s management budget and estimates;
xi. Audit programme;
xii. Audit planning materials like audit plan, risk assessment and materiality threshold;
xiii. Audit checklists; and
xiv. Copy of letter of engagement.

Contents of a permanent audit file include:
i. Certificate of incorporation;
ii. Memorandum and articles of association or any other legal constitution;
iii. Organisation structure and management profile;
iv. List of branches and addresses;
v. List of banks and locations;
vi. Copy of letter of engagement;
vii. Copies of audited financial statements to date;
viii. Copies of important agreements entered into by the company or entity;
ix. List of directors;
x. List of major shareholders or members of the entity;
xi. Summary of the history and development of the entity; and
xii. Summary of the accounting system and other operational procedures.

d) Owners of audit working papers
Audit working papers are owned by the auditors. The auditor, in a statutory audit, is performing in a principal capacity and not as an agent. If any legal issue arises from his audit, he has to defend himself, hence ownership of the working papers is appropriate.
The working papers do not form part of the accounting records of the client, and do not belong to the client. Auditing standards require the auditor to ensure that working papers are kept safe and their contents are kept confidential. Information therefore should only be made available to third parties in accordance with ethical guidelines and legal requirements.