Think of SA 700 as the final delivery of an audit — after all the hard work of gathering evidence, the auditor must answer one question: Do these financial statements show a true and fair view? SA 700 governs exactly how that answer is formed and communicated through the Auditor's Report.
The standard requires the auditor to form an opinion based on whether the financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework (usually Ind AS or AS). If the auditor is satisfied — no material misstatements, sufficient appropriate evidence gathered — the opinion is Unmodified (Clean). This is the gold standard. The moment something is wrong or evidence is lacking, you move to SA 705 territory (modified opinions), but SA 700 lays the foundation for that too.
The Auditor's Report under SA 700 must contain these elements in a specific order — and this is heavily tested: Title (must say 'Independent Auditor's Report'), Addressee (shareholders/members, not management), Opinion paragraph (comes first now, post-2018 revision), Basis for Opinion, Going Concern section (if applicable), Key Audit Matters (only for listed entities), Management's Responsibilities, Auditor's Responsibilities, Other Reporting Responsibilities (like CARO 2020 for companies), Signature (name + membership number + firm details), Place, and Date (not before the date all evidence is obtained). A critical change in the revised SA 700: the Opinion paragraph leads — examiners love asking this. Also note that the Basis for Opinion paragraph must explicitly state that the audit was conducted per Standards on Auditing and that the auditor is independent per the ICAI Code of Ethics. This independence declaration is a new, mandatory element — don't miss it.