AICPA board approves update to peer review standards

The AICPA Peer Review Board (PRB) voted Monday to approve a standards update designed to better align peer review standards with new quality management (QM) standards and to clarify and improve existing technical guidance.

The omnibus technical enhancements in Peer Review Standards Update (PRSU) No. 2, Reviewing a Firm’s System of Quality Management and Omnibus Technical Enhancements, are effective for peer reviews commencing on or after Dec. 1. QM-related revisions in PRSU No. 2 are effective for peer reviews with years ending on or after Dec. 31, 2025.

Firms have until Dec. 15, 2025, to establish a QM system in alignment with AICPA standards.

Changes issued in PRSU No. 2 include:

• Peer review terminology and phrasing revisions as necessary to conform with the new QM standards.
• Requirements and related application and other explanatory material paragraphs were adapted, where appropriate, to address risk-based considerations resulting from the requirements of the QM standards.
• Technical changes intended to meet the current needs of the program by clarifying or expanding the existing requirements and application and other explanatory material were made to continue the PRB’s effort to maintain standards that are easy to read, understand, and apply.
• Minor error corrections.

An exposure draft of PRSU No. 2 was approved for issuance last November. The final update took stakeholder feedback into consideration.

During the PRB’s open session Monday, the board also determined that a retiring partner is permitted to continue serving as a team member on peer reviews for a period of 36 months.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.