Financial Statements of Waikato River Authority
for the period ended 30 June 2013
Waikato River Authority
Independent Auditor’s Report
to the readers of
Waikato River Authority’s financial statements for
the year ended 30 June 2013
The AuditorGeneral is the auditor of Waikato River Authority (the Authority). The
AuditorGeneral has appointed me, B H Halford, using the staff and resources of Audit New
Zealand, to carry out the audit of the financial statements of the Authority on her behalf.
We have audited the financial statements of the Authority on pages 14 to 25, that
comprise the statement of financial position as at 30 June 2013, the statement of
comprehensive income, statement of changes in equity and statement of cash flows for
the year ended on that date and notes to the financial statements that include accounting
policies and other explanatory information.
Opinion
In our opinion the financial statements of the Authority on pages 14 to 25.
• comply with generally accepted accounting practice in New Zealand; and
• fairly reflect the Authority’s:
• financial position as at 30 June 2013; and
• financial performance and cash flows for the year ended on that date.
Our audit was completed on 30 August 2013. This is the date at which our opinion is
expressed.
The basis of our opinion is explained below. In addition, we outline the responsibilities of
the Authority and our responsibilities and we explain our independence.
Basis of opinion
We carried out our audit in accordance with the AuditorGeneral’s Auditing Standards,
which incorporate the International Standards on Auditing (New Zealand). Those standards
require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and carry out our audit to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from
material misstatement.
Material misstatements are differences or omissions of amounts and disclosures that,
in our judgement, are likely to influence readers’ overall understanding of the financial
statements. If we had found material misstatements that were not corrected, we would
have referred to them in our opinion.
An audit involves carrying out procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts
and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on our
judgement, including our assessment of risks of material misstatement of the financial
statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments we consider
internal control relevant to the preparation of the Authority’s financial statements that
fairly reflect the matters to which they relate. We consider internal control 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 Authority’s internal control.
An audit also involves evaluating:
• the appropriateness of accounting policies used and whether they have been
consistently applied;
• the reasonableness of the significant accounting estimates and judgements made by
the Authority;
• the adequacy of all disclosures in the financial statements; and
• the overall presentation of the financial statements.
Restoring and protecting the health and wellbeing of the Waikato River
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