The International Federation of Accountants has released the 2009 Handbook of International Standards on Auditing and Quality Control.

The handbook can be downloaded free of charge from the IFAC online bookstore at www.ifac.org/store. Print copies can also be ordered for shipment in early May at a cost of $85 each.

The handbook brings together all the International Standards on Auditing and the International Standard on Quality Control that have been redrafted by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board to improve their clarity. It also includes a new glossary of terms and a preface. The redrafted standards take effect on Dec. 15, 2009.

The handbook replaces Part II of the "2008 Handbook of International Standards on Auditing, Assurance, and Ethics Pronouncements.“ Part I of that earlier handbook will remain in effect through 2009, however. It contains pronouncements on auditing, review, other assurance, and related services issued by the IAASB as of Jan. 1, 2008.

It also includes IFAC’s “Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants,” which was issued by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants. The pronouncements on auditing in Part I of the "2008 Handbook of International Auditing, Assurance, and Ethics Pronouncements” will remain in effect up to Dec. 14, 2009. Thereafter, they will be replaced by those contained in the 2009 handbook.