Responsibilities of the statutory auditor for the audit of the consolidated financial statements
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r objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements as a whole
are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a statutory auditor’s report that
includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit
conducted in accordance with ISA will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can
arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be
expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these consolidated financial
statements.
During the performance of our audit, we comply with the legal, regulatory and normative framework as applicable
to the audit of consolidated financial statements in Belgium. The scope of the audit does not comprise any
assurance regarding the future viability of the company nor regarding the efficiency or effectiveness demonstrated
by the board of directors in the way that the company’s business has been conducted or will be conducted.
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s part of an audit in accordance with ISA, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism
throughout the audit. We also:
identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to
fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is
sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement
resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from an error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery,
intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control;
obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are
appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the
group’s internal control;
evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and
related disclosures made by the board of directors;
conclude on the appropriateness of the use of the going concern basis of accounting by the board of directors
and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or
conditions that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude
that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our statutory auditor’s report to the
related disclosures in the consolidated financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modif
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ur opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our statutor
y
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uditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the group to cease to continue as a going
concern;
evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the consolidated financial statements, and whether
the consolidated financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that
achieves fair presentation.
obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial information of the entities and business
activities within the group to express an opinion on the consolidated financial statements. We are responsible
for the direction, supervision and performance of the group audit. We remain solely responsible for our audit
opinion.
W
e communicate with the audit committee regarding, amongst other matters, the planned scope and timing of the
audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during
our audit.
We also provide the audit committee with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements
regarding independence, and we communicate with them about all relationships and other matters that may
reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.
From the matters communicated to the audit committee, we determine those matters that were of most
significance in the audit of the consolidated financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key
audit matters. We describe these matters in our report unless law or regulation precludes any public disclosure
about the matter.