What is the other matter paragraph (OMP)?

The other matter paragraph (OMP) is an additional paragraph or information added to the audit report. This information is not included in the financial statement but in the audit report only.

It is the auditor’s discretion/professional judgment whether they want readers of the audit report to consider/read this specific information included in the audit report.

OMP is different from the Emphasis of matter paragraph because OMP is some additional information in the audit report that was not included in the financial statement. On the other hand, the Emphasis of matter paragraph does not provide additional information but refers to the information already included in the business’s financial statement.

The following are some of the circumstances in which auditors use OMP in the audit report.

1-Predecessor auditor – (comparative period of the financial statement audited by another firm of accountants)

The auditors may decide to include this information in the other matter paragraph. It helps to limit their responsibility in terms of using comparative information.

2-Opening figures not audited – (Comparative period remains unaudited)

Again, this information limits the auditor’s responsibilities for comparative information in the financial statement.

3- Supplementary information – (The information not required by the financial reporting framework but included in line with the auditor’s professional judgment)

Although the financial reporting framework does not require this information, it can be valuable and relevant for the users of financial statements. Hence, it’s included to facilitate the use of financial statements.

4-Change in terms of consistency

 Any material inconsistencies or changes in the accounting policies or estimates can be communicated via OMP. These inconsistencies need to be corrected prior to the audit report.

5-Restricted Usage

When an audit is conducted for specific usage, the auditors can use OMP to limit their responsibility for the specific user group. However, it needs to be part of the audit engagement.

6-Component auditor’s modified report

This is the case when the component auditor’s report is modified, but this may not be reflected in the group financial statement. Hence, auditors might decide to communicate this information via OMP.

There can be multiple pieces of information the auditor may decide to include as part of OMP.

Wrap up

Other matter paragraph (OMP) is when the auditors include other information/paragraphs in the audit report. This information/paragraph is not included in the financial statement.

The following are some of the instances where auditors use other matter paragraphs.

• Predecessor auditor (another firm of accountants conducted the previous year’s audits).
• Opening figures are not audited at all.
• Additional/supplementary information is given as part of OMP.
• Audit reports are restricted to specific users.
• Component auditor’s report was modified.