Why the emphasis in auditing property, plant and equipment is on the current period acquisitions and disposals rather than on the balances in the account carried forward from the proceeding year?

The reason for the emphasis on current period acquisitions in auditing property, plant, and equipment is that there is an expectation that permanent assets will be kept and maintained on the records for several years. the assets carried over from the preceding years can be assumed to have been verified in the prior years audits. if it cannot be shown through tests of controls and substantive tests of transactions that all disposals have been recorded, additional testing of the prior balance could be required. a first year audit also necessitates tests of the beginning balance.