ISA 310 Knowledge of the Business is one of the International Standards on Auditing

International Standards on Auditing

International Standards on Auditing are professional standards for the performance of financial audit of financial information. These standards are issued by International Federation of Accountants through the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board .-Respective responsibilities:*ISA...

. It serves to expect the auditors are to have necessary knowledge of the client's business. Even before accepting the audit job, auditor has to make sure if you have sufficient knowledge to perform the audit professionally.

ISA 310 points out that the sources of auditors' knowledge are:

1. previous working experience
   Experience
   Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....
   
    with the entity and its industry.
2. site visit including client's premises and plant facilities.
3. the client's minutes of meetings and other legal and non-legal documents.
4. the entity's directors
   Board of directors
   A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
   
    and other personnel.
5. the internal audit
   Internal audit
   Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk...
   
   ors and audit committee
   Audit committee
   In a U.S. publicly-traded company, an audit committee is an operating committee of the Board of Directors charged with oversight of financial reporting and disclosure. Committee members are drawn from members of the company's board of directors, with a Chairperson selected from among the committee...
   
    of the entity.
6. the lawyers, surveyors
   Surveying
   See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
   
    and other experts who provided services to the entity.
7. the previous auditors and audit working papers
   Audit working papers
   Audit working papers are the documents which record all audit evidence obtained during financial statements auditing, internal management auditing, information systems auditing, and investigations. Audit working papers are used to support the audit work done in order to provide assurance that the...
   
   .
8. the previous financial reports, budgets, internal control
   Internal control
   In accounting and auditing, internal control is defined as a process effected by an organization's structure, work and authority flows, people and management information systems, designed to help the organization accomplish specific goals or objectives. It is a means by which an organization's...
   
    reports and interim financial reports.
9. the client's business partners including customers, suppliers and bankers.
10. economists, news reporters, regulators, and so on.