Investors’ confidence in U.S. capital markets continued a five-year trend of declines in 2011, according to the AICPA-affiliated Center for Audit Quality’s (CAQ) fifth annual Main Street Investor Survey, and confidence in investing in U.S. public companies declined for the first time since the survey started asking the question in
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Audit & assurance
PCAOB: Be On the Lookout for Fraud in Emerging Markets
The PCAOB on Monday published a Staff Audit Practice Alert to increase auditors’ awareness of risks when performing audits of companies with operations in emerging markets. Specifically, the alert cited a number of reports originating from audits of companies based in the People’s Republic of China. Staff Audit Practice Alert
PCAOB, Norway Reach Accord on Auditor Inspections
The PCAOB on Wednesday said it entered into a cooperative agreement with the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) of Norway for the oversight of audit work performed by public accounting firms that practice in the two regulators’ respective jurisdictions. The PCAOB had been blocked from inspections in Norway since 2008, the
Auditing
The PCAOB adopted a temporary rule to establish an interim inspection program for registered public accounting firms’ audits of securities brokers and dealers as permitted by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The board adopted without material change a proposed temporary rule (tinyurl.com/6x47nh5) issued Dec. 14, 2010.
PCAOB Round Table to Address Auditor’s Reporting Model
The PCAOB said it will host a public round table on Thursday, Sept. 15, to discuss its concept release on possible changes to the auditor’s reporting model. The board issued a discussion paper for the meeting. The board said in a press release that the purpose of the meeting is
Last Chance to Offer ASB Input on Strategic Plan
The AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board is developing its strategic plan for the next three to four years. The board has launched a survey that will remain open until today to collect views from constituents regarding what the ASB’s objectives and activities should be during that period. The survey is an
PCAOB Opens Discussion on Audit Firm Rotation
The PCAOB on Tuesday launched a new phase of its examination of potential limits on audit firm tenure with public companies. The board voted to issue a concept release on the topic. It plans to gather feedback by mid-December and hold a public forum on the issue in March 2012.
ASB Issues Interpretation to SAS 119, Three Clarified SASs
The AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued Interpretation no. 1, “Dating the Auditor’s Report on Supplementary Information,” to SAS no. 119, Supplementary Information in Relation to the Financial Statements as a Whole. The ASB also issued three clarified Statements on Auditing Standards (SASs). The interpretation to SAS no. 119 addresses
AICPA Issues Technical Practice Aid on Providing Opinion on SEFAs
AICPA staff issued TPA 9160.27, “Providing Opinion on a Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards [SEFA] in Relation to an Entity’s Financial Statements as a Whole When the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards Is on a Different Basis of Accounting Than the Financial Statements.” Provided certain conditions are met,
News Highlights for August 2011
The Center for Audit Quality is partnering with Financial Executives International, The Institute of Internal Auditors and the National Association of Corporate Directors to develop fraud-fighting training and tools, including a series of fraud hypotheticals to be used as teaching tools. “We will provide a set of facts and circumstances
Auditing
The PCAOB issued a concept release on possible changes to the auditor’s reporting model including the addition of an auditor’s discussion and analysis (AD&A), mandatory emphasis paragraphs, assurance on non-GAAP information and clarification of standard language. A fact sheet summarizing each of the possible changes is available at tinyurl.com/679h8ku.
PCAOB Proposes Standards for Broker-Dealer Audits and Auditing Supplemental Information
The PCAOB issued proposed standards for audits of broker-dealer and issuer engagements for public comment Tuesday. The proposals consist of two attestation standards related to the auditor’s examination of compliance reports and review of exemption reports of broker-dealers proposed by the SEC as part of its amendments to the broker-dealer
IAASB Chair: 70-Plus Countries Now Endorse Clarity ISAs
In the past year, the number of countries using or committed to using the Clarity International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) has grown from about 30 to more than 70, according to Arnold Schilder, chairman of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB). Speaking at the CReCER 2011 financial reporting
PCAOB, SEC to Meet With Chinese Officials on Auditing Oversight
The PCAOB said Wednesday that a joint PCAOB-SEC delegation will meet next week in Beijing with representatives of China’s Ministry of Finance and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to discuss issues relating to auditing oversight. “This meeting is the commencement of our accelerated efforts with the People’s Republic
ASB Seeking Feedback on U.S. Auditor Reporting
The AICPA Auditing Standards Board (ASB) is requesting input from members and other stakeholders to help form its comments on the consultation paper, Enhancing the Value of Auditor Reporting: Exploring Options for Change (Consultation Paper), issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. The IAASB paper is aimed at
PCAOB Chairman Calls for More Global Cooperation on Audit Regulation
When national regulators cooperate and share information, investors everywhere benefit from the enhanced protection such communication provides, said PCAOB Chairman James Doty in a speech Thursday to the Federation of European Accountants (FEE) Conference on Audit Policy in Brussels. “In a crisis, when a nation’s (or a region’s) economic well-being
PCAOB Set to Expand Under New Mandates
PCAOB Chairman James R. Doty sees the audit profession as being at a turning point, not just in the U.S., but globally. “One of the fundamental advantages of our society has always been the audit. We believed we could believe in the numbers and that the numbers would be right.
Expanding Service Organization Controls Reporting
Several prominent internal control breakdowns and increased focus on internal control by regulators, boards of directors and others charged with governance have led to increased demand for attestation reports on controls over subject matter other than financial reporting provided by an independent CPA. Neither Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) no.
PCAOB Considers Four Approaches to Changing Auditor’s Report
The PCAOB issued a concept release Tuesday on possible changes to the auditor’s reporting model including the addition of an auditor’s discussion and analysis (AD&A), mandatory emphasis paragraphs, assurance on non-GAAP information and clarification of standard language. A fact sheet issued with the release summarizes each of the possible changes.
SEC Proposes Audits of Broker-Dealers’ Custody Practices
The SEC proposed rules that it said would strengthen the annual audits of broker-dealers by requiring an increased focus on their custody activities. Current rules require broker-dealers to protect and account for customer assets. The proposed rule amendments would mandate an audit of those controls. Comments on the proposal are
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