ASB addresses auditor’s report, other information, standards alignment

The AICPA Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued three proposals meant to enhance the relevance and usefulness of the auditor’s report for audits of nonissuers.

Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards: Auditor Reporting and Proposed Amendments — Addressing Disclosures in the Audit of Financial Statements would revise and expand the auditor’s report and seeks alignment with the guidance of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. If approved, it would create a new structure for the auditor’s report for all audits of financial statements of nonissuers.

A second proposal, Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards: The Auditor’s Responsibilities Relating to Other Information Included in Annual Reports, is designed to bring consistency to auditors’ consideration of and enhance the auditor’s responsibilities with respect to other information in annual reports. It would supersede AU-C Section 720,Other Information in Documents Containing Audited Financial Statements.

A third proposal, Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards: Omnibus Statement on Auditing Standards — 2018, would align generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) with PCAOB Auditing Standard 1301, Communication With Audit Committees, and Auditing Standard 2410, Related Parties. Those standards were issued after the ASB completed its clarity project in 2012. The ED proposes amending various AU-C sections in the AICPA Professional Standards.

Comments on the exposure drafts can be submitted by May 15. Comments on the auditor reporting and omnibus proposals can be emailed to Sherry Hazel at Sherry.Hazel@aicpa-cima.com. Comments on the other information proposal can be submitted to Mike Glynn at Mike.Glynn@aicpa-cima.com.

The provisional effective date of the proposals would not be earlier than for audits of financial statements for periods ending on or after June 15, 2019.