The Supervisory Authority shall do all things necessary and reasonable to further its objects and is vested with broad regulatory, supervisory and enforcement functions. These include granting recognition to bodies of accountants and attaching terms and conditions to recognition (including approval of and reporting on regulatory plans); requiring and approving investigation and disciplinary procedures and standards and changes to constitutions and bye‑laws; conducting enquiries under section 933 and imposing related sanctions; undertaking investigations under section 934 and imposing sanctions on members and statutory auditors; supervising how recognised accountancy bodies monitor their members and statutory auditors; monitoring auditor independence and audit‑market developments; adopting auditing and assurance standards; and overseeing approval, registration, continuing education, quality assurance and disciplinary systems for statutory auditors, including enabling recognised bodies to perform specified functions.

The Authority shall cooperate with competent authorities in other Member States to achieve convergence of educational qualifications and aptitude tests for approval as statutory auditors and for assurance of sustainability reporting, take account of developments in auditing and assurance, and engage with the Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies (CEAOB) and competent authorities under Regulation (EU) No 537/2014 in matters relating to statutory audits of public‑interest entities. It is assigned responsibility for the State’s cooperation under Article 33 of the Audit Directive and must put in place appropriate mechanisms, including arrangements with competent authorities in other Member States.