Special-Purpose Audits and Reviews in Egypt: Which Standard Applies

Executive summary

• The standards in force today were issued by Minister of Investment Decree 166 of 2008: Standard 800 for special-purpose audit engagements, 2410 for a review performed by the entity's own auditor, 4400 for agreed-upon procedures and 4410 for compilation.
• Neither the 2008 set, as published by the Financial Regulatory Authority, nor the 2025 set contains an Egyptian standard for a review performed by a practitioner who is not the entity's auditor; both decrees apply the international standards wherever the Egyptian standards are silent.
• An audit ends in an opinion (reasonable assurance), a review in a negatively worded conclusion (limited assurance); agreed-upon procedures and compilation give no assurance.
• The listing rules of the Egyptian Exchange require a listed company to file its quarterly statements with "the limited review report" attached, and to prepare them within forty-five days at most of the period end (Article 46).
• From 2027 the set issued by Prime Minister's Decree 3725 of 2025, as amended by Decree 1274 of 2026, replaces the 2008 standards: Standard 800 is split into three, and an emphasis-of-matter paragraph becomes mandatory in a special-purpose report.

The engagements and the Egyptian standard for each

The complete set of general-purpose financial statements is covered in Complete Financial Statements in Egypt: Components and Presentation; this bulletin covers everything else. The standards in force were issued by Minister of Investment Decree 166 of 2008 (Al-Waqa'i' Al-Misriyya, Issue 173 (continued) (a), 28 July 2008), whose Article 2 provides that "international auditing standards apply to any matter on which the Egyptian standards contain no provision".

• Special-purpose audit: Standard 800 on the auditor's report on special-purpose audit engagements. Under paragraph 1 it covers financial statements prepared under a comprehensive accounting basis other than the Egyptian Accounting Standards; specified accounts, elements or items, such as receivables or inventory (paragraph 12); compliance with contractual terms; and summarised financial statements. The auditor must state in the body of the report "the purpose for which it was prepared and any restriction on its distribution or use" (paragraph 4).
• Review by the entity's auditor: Standard 2410 on the review of an entity's interim financial statements performed by its auditor. Its objective is to enable the auditor to express "a conclusion on whether anything has come to their attention that causes them to believe that the interim financial statements are not prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework" (paragraph 7).
• Review by another practitioner: of the review standards, the 2008 set as published by the Financial Regulatory Authority contains only 2410. Read with Article 2 of the decree, this leads, in our view, to the international standard ISRE 2400 (Revised), issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board for reviews in which the practitioner is not the entity's auditor.
• Agreed-upon procedures: Standard 4400. The auditor carries out procedures "agreed with the entity and any appropriate third party" and reports "the factual findings" (paragraph 4), without expressing assurance; use of the report is restricted to the parties that agreed the procedures (paragraphs 5 and 6). Financial due diligence is covered in Financial Due Diligence in Egypt.
• Compilation: Standard 4410. The accountant uses accounting expertise "to collect, classify and summarise financial information" (paragraph 3) and issues no assurance report (paragraph 18).

Level of assurance and form of report

The Framework for Assurance Engagements published with the 2008 set distinguishes reasonable assurance, reported in "the positive form", from limited assurance, reported in "the negative form" (paragraph 11), and does not treat agreed-upon procedures or compilation as assurance engagements (paragraph 12).

An auditor who has given an adverse opinion or a disclaimer on the financial statements as a whole should report on components only if they are "not of a size that makes them a major portion of the financial statements" (Standard 800, paragraph 16). The forms of modified opinion are covered in The Egyptian auditor's report: forms of opinion and what each means.

When the listing rules or a contract require one

Article 46 of the Rules for Listing and Delisting Securities on the Egyptian Exchange (FRA Board Decision 11 of 2014 as amended, August 2026 consolidated version) provides that "the company shall provide the Authority and the Exchange with the following", including:

"A copy of the quarterly (interim) financial statements issued by the company's board of directors, with the limited review report attached, before the start of the trading session following the date stated on the auditor's report. The quarterly financial statements are prepared within forty-five days at most of the end of the financial period."

Article 47 adds that a company required to prepare consolidated statements files its quarterly consolidated statements "with the auditor's report attached, within sixty days at most of the date of that period". Who may act as auditor is covered in Statutory Audit in Egypt: Who Needs an Auditor.

Outside the listing rules, Standard 800 itself mentions government bodies, trustees and insurers that may prescribe the form of the auditor's report (paragraph 6), and contractual agreements "such as bond indentures or loan agreements" on whose compliance a report may be requested (paragraph 17).

What changes with the 2025 set, and when

Prime Minister's Decree 3725 of 2025 (Official Gazette, Issue 41 bis (h), 15 October 2025), amended by Decree 1274 of 2026 (Official Gazette, Issue 19, 9 May 2026), applies its set to the audit or review of financial statements for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027. For these engagements:

• The old Standard 800 is split into three: 800 for financial statements "prepared in accordance with special-purpose frameworks", 805 for "a single financial statement and specific elements, accounts or items of a financial statement", and 810 for summary financial statements.
• The new Standard 800 requires an emphasis-of-matter paragraph alerting users that the financial statements "may not be suitable for another purpose" (paragraph 14).
• Standard 2410 keeps its number and title and applies to interim statements "whose financial period begins on or after 1 January 2027" (paragraph 65); the new set has no Standard 2400 either.
• Standard 4400 covers "financial or non-financial subject matters" (paragraph 2) and applies to engagements "agreed on or after 1 January 2027" (paragraph 11); Standard 4410 applies to engagements "contracted on or after 1/1/2027" (paragraph 15). On the wording of both paragraphs, what counts for these two is the engagement date, not the start of the period.

The transition is covered in Egypt's New Auditing Standards: What Changes and When They Apply.

What this requires

• Agree the nature of the engagement and the form of the report with the auditor before work starts (Standard 800, paragraph 3).
• For a special-purpose audit: adequate disclosure of the accounting basis used, failing which the auditor issues a modified opinion (paragraph 11), and adequate disclosure of any significant interpretation of an agreement on which the information was prepared (paragraph 8).
• For a review: written representations from management acknowledging its responsibility for internal control to prevent and detect fraud and error, that the statements are prepared under the applicable framework, and that it believes the effect of uncorrected misstatements is immaterial (Standard 2410, paragraph 34).
• For a listed company: prepare the quarterly statements within 45 days at most and file them with the review report before the trading session following the report's date (Article 46).
• For a compilation: management remains "responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information" it provides (Standard 4410, paragraph 7), and the statements carry a marking such as "not audited" on each page or at the front of the complete set (paragraph 19), so that they are not presented as audited.

The firm's Audit & Assurance Department identifies the engagement and the applicable standard for each request from a bank, investor or regulator, and carries out special-purpose audits, reviews and agreed-upon procedures.

Nehal Saied, Partner
Chartered Accountant, Ministry of Finance, Egypt

Member, Egyptian Tax Society
Member, Egyptian Society for Public Finance and Taxation

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