Auditing

The AICPA Auditing Standards Board issued an exposure draft of proposed Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS), Defining Professional Requirements in Statements on Auditing Standards, and proposed Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE), Defining Professional Requirements in Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (www.aicpa.org/members/div/auditstd/2005_02_28_prof_req.asp). The suggested guidance defines terminology describing auditors’ and practitioners’ degrees of responsibility during engagements. The terms must and is required denote a requirement, while the term should denotes a presumptive requirement. The auditor or practitioner is required to comply with a requirement in all cases in which the circumstances exist to which the requirement applies. In rare circumstances, an auditor or practitioner may depart from a presumptive requirement if he or she documents the justification for departure and how alternative procedures performed were sufficient to achieve the objective of the presumptive requirement. The proposed statements will apply to existing SASs and SSAEs. Comments on them are due May 15, 2005.