Auditing

The PCAOB published staff questions and answers about references to authoritative accounting guidance in PCAOB standards.

The series of Q&As serves as a reminder that auditors should look to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification and SEC rules for authoritative U.S. GAAP guidance for SEC registrants, even though PCAOB standards may contain descriptions of and references to U.S. GAAP, according to a statement by the PCAOB. The Q&A series also provides guidance on the auditor’s responsibilities regarding the codification, including situations where the auditor believes an item in the financial statements should be accounted for differently under the codification than under pre-Codification U.S. GAAP, as well as considerations auditors should give to U.S. GAAP references in the standards of the PCAOB when auditing the financial statements of a foreign private issuer prepared in conformity with IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.

The statements contained in the Q&A are not rules of the board, however. They are available at tinyurl.com/msk6d2.