Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets publishes supervisory findings on audit firms’ control of time, resources and fees supporting statutory audit quality

The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets has published the outcomes of 2025 supervisory work on how audit firms with a regular licence manage time, resources and audit fees as key preconditions for performing statutory audits with due care. It shared observations and good practices with the sector and encouraged firms to use them to reflect on their own controls and decision-making. The 2025 work combined a risk analysis based on data submitted through standard information requests with a review of ten audit firms. The assessment looked at how time, resources and fees are embedded in firms’ quality management systems and how these preconditions were applied in two selected statutory audits per firm. Across the firms reviewed, checks on the availability of time, resources and qualified staff were in place and planning was commonly monitored through periodic meetings. Post-engagement reviews of whether budgeted hours were sufficient were also common, but the AFM noted these evaluations could be more consistently embedded in firm policy. One good practice highlighted was using a planner who is not part of the engagement team to provide a more objective view on capacity and time. On fees, most external auditors assessed fee adequacy at client acceptance or continuance, but an evidence-based rationale was often missing from audit files, with a highlighted good practice of annually gathering input from all team members across engagements where fees are a fixed agenda item. The AFM will continue engagement with the sector and monitor the topic periodically, with follow-up supervisory activities where necessary.