CPA practitioners will have more flexibility to perform agreed-upon procedures engagements under a new standard issued Thursday by the AICPA Auditing Standards Board.
Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 19, Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements, provides flexibility to CPAs by:
- Removing the requirement that the practitioner request an assertion from the responsible party.
- Allowing procedures to be developed over the course of the engagement.
- Allowing the practitioner to develop or assist in developing the procedures.
- No longer requiring intended users to take responsibility for the sufficiency of the procedures, and instead requiring the engaging party to acknowledge the appropriateness of the procedures before the issuance of the practitioner’s report.
- Permitting the practitioner to issue a general-use report.
The new standard supersedes SSAE No. 18 AT-C Section 215, Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements, in the AICPA Professional Standards. SSAE No. 19 also amends SSAE No. 18 AT-C Section 105, Concepts Common to All Attestation Engagements.
SSAE No. 19 takes effect for agreed-upon procedures reports dated on or after July 15, 2021, and early implementation is permitted.
For more information, see the AICPA’s At a Glance summary.
— Ken Tysiac (Kenneth.Tysiac@aicpa-cima.com) is the JofA’s editorial director.
