PCAOB consultation process offers new options for firms seeking guidance

The PCAOB launched a firm consultation process intended to provide more timely and consistent guidance regarding the application of existing standards and the implementation of new standards.

“Delivering clear guidance is essential to the PCAOB’s efforts to drive further improvement in audit quality,” PCAOB Chair Demetrios Logothetis said in a news release. “This staff-led consultation process is designed to help firms implement new standards and apply our standards more consistently, which will ultimately fulfill the PCAOB’s mission to protect investors.”

According to the news release, the new process will allow registered public accounting firms to submit questions to the Office of the Chief Auditor and receive informal views on the interpretation and application of PCAOB auditing, attestation, and quality control standards and related rules and forms, as well as PCAOB standards and rules on ethics and independence. If a firm decides to proceed with a consultation, requests should be submitted via the PCAOB’s consultation intake form.

The Office of the Chief Auditor does not plan to make consultation requests public but may publish public guidance for questions that are frequently asked or may be of general use.

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