Not a member? Subscribe Today | Forgot password?

Remember me

Auditing Standards

PCAOB Targets Related Parties in Latest Proposal

Tammy Whitehouse February 29, 2012

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has proposed another new auditing standard, this time to steer auditors toward more careful assessments of transactions with related parties or other significant unusual transactions. Details Inside

PCAOB Preps New Standard on Related Parties

Tammy Whitehouse February 22, 2012

After years of fretting over how to get auditors to pay closer attention to deals among related parties within an enterprise or other unusual transactions, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is about to publish a proposed new standard to address the concerns.

PCAOB Prepares Guidance on Auditing Fair Value

Tammy Whitehouse November 03, 2011

The chief auditor at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is preparing new guidance that will give auditors direction on how to audit fair-value measurements and disclosures. A task force has studied a variety of issues related to financial instrument valuation, including the processes and controls over information gathered from pricing sources.

PCAOB Develops New Rules for Supplemental Data

Tammy Whitehouse July 15, 2011

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is proposing a new standard for auditing broker-dealers. But companies that ask their auditors to take a look at any supplemental schedules they might include with financial statements could be affected by the new standard as well. More inside.

PCAOB Targets Rules at Disclosures, Audit Reports

Tammy Whitehouse March 15, 2011

Audit regulators are starting to percolate some new guidance that would tell auditors to think and act a little more like detectives when auditing financial statement disclosures and to say more about their work in their audit reports. Details inside.

PCAOB Reopens Comment on Communications Standard

Tammy Whitehouse September 08, 2010

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has decided to reopen the comment process and gather more feedback on its proposed standard, Communications With Audit Committees, governing how auditors must communicate with audit committees.The PCAOB scheduled a roundtable session for Sept. 21 and reopened the comment process on its proposed standard...

PCAOB Publishes Reports on Three Major Audit Firms

Tammy Whitehouse August 18, 2010

Audit regulators have published the latest report cards for three more major audit firms—PricewaterhouseCoopers, Grant Thornton, and BDO Seidman—calling out continued problems with valuations, loan loss allowances, revenue recognition, and impairments.For PwC, the PCAOB studied parts of 76 different audits and found fault with nine, or 11 percent of the...

PCAOB Adopts Eight New Standards on Risk Assessment

Tammy Whitehouse August 10, 2010

In one fell swoop, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board adopted a slate of new auditing standards that tell auditors how to assess risk, doubling the number of standards in the board’s rulebook.The board adopted Auditing Standards No. 8 through No. 15, giving auditors a detailed roadmap for assessing and...

PCAOB Plans New Requirements for Audit Confirmations

Tammy Whitehouse July 14, 2010

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is seeking comment on a proposed new standard for auditors to pursue third-party confirmations of various details in corporate financial statements.In the audit process, confirmation refers to direct communication between the auditor and a third party, such as a vendor or a customer, to...

PCAOB Issues Alert on Significant Unusual Transactions

Tammy Whitehouse April 07, 2010

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued an alert to auditors to remind them to take a hard look at “significant unusual transactions” and the risk that they may be driven by error or fraud.Staff Audit Practice Alert No. 5, Auditor Considerations Regarding Significant Unusual Transactions, is a compilation...

PCAOB Seeks to Update Auditor Communication With AC

Tammy Whitehouse March 31, 2010

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued for comment a proposal to adopt a new auditing standard that gives auditors some new requirements about what and how they should communicate with audit committees.The standard would require auditors to come to a mutual understanding of the terms of an audit...

PCAOB Offers Guidance on AS7 Documentation

Tammy Whitehouse February 23, 2010

Audit regulators are putting down early notions that a new rule on internal reviews requires copious documentation.The Public Company Accounting Oversight published a single question and answer addressing implementation of Auditing Standard No. 7: Engagement Quality Review addressing the new standard’s documentation requirements. The Securities and Exchange Commission called for...

PCAOB Revamps 7-Standard Package on Risk Assessment

Tammy Whitehouse December 17, 2009

Based on initial comments to seven proposed standards on assessing and responding to risk, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has reworked the package and is asking for public comment on the revisions.The board unanimously approved the revisions suggested by the staff of Chief Auditor Marty Baumann and agreed to...

Boards Develop New Guidance for Auditing Fair Value

Tammy Whitehouse October 21, 2009

Both in the United States and abroad, audit rule makers are developing new guidance on how to audit fair-value measurements.The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board recently asked its Standing Advisory Group for its input on the board’s preliminary ideas around developing a new standard that would govern how to audit...

Enforcement Light on Engagement Quality Review

Tammy Whitehouse May 27, 2009

Although the audit engagement quality review will soon be subject to new rules, it has not been a common target for enforcement action, according to a recent academic analysis.Since 1993, only 28 enforcement cases at the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board have resulted in...

Survey: Audit Committees Demand Better Information

Tammy Whitehouse May 22, 2009

Corporate audit committee members are getting more tuned in to risk and demanding better quality information in light of recent economic events.In a recent survey, three-fourths of audit committee members said they are working more "hands on" with management to assess risk management and oversight as a result of economic...

CAQ Offers Investors Lessons on Auditing

Tammy Whitehouse May 13, 2009

The Center for Audit Quality is touting the role of auditors in capital markets with a consumer-focused guide to investors explaining what auditors do.The “Guide to Public Company Auditing” is a broad, basic overview of the auditor’s role in providing assurance that a company’s financial statements are fairly stated. It...

PCAOB Seeks Nominations for New Advisors

Tammy Whitehouse May 11, 2009

If you’re looking to bend the ear of audit regulators, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is accepting nominations—either your own or someone else’s—for its Standing Advisory Group.The SAG is an advisory body that meets a few times each year to share views and offer ideas on how to address...

Auditors Get Heads Up on Fair Value, Impairment Rules

Tammy Whitehouse April 22, 2009

Regulators have responded to calls from the financial services sector to give auditors new guidance on how to audit fair-value measurements and impairments.The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board published an audit alert that brings auditors up to speed on new fair-value and impairment guidance recently finalized by the Financial Accounting...

PCAOB Plans More Forums for Smaller Firms in 2009

Tammy Whitehouse April 13, 2009

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will continue its forums for smaller auditing firms in 2009 with six events throughout the United States.The forums are intended to help smaller firms keep up-to-date on PCAOB rules and requirements as well as emerging audit issues. The agenda will feature case studies on...

PCAOB Preps Overhaul for Audit Confirmations

Tammy Whitehouse April 13, 2009

Auditors may get some new guidance around how to acquire and rely on third-party confirmations.The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will meet this week to discuss whether to issue a concept release that would form the basis for a new standard on audit confirmations. The board discussed its concerns about...

PCAOB: Do Auditors Need Fair-Value Guidance?

Tammy Whitehouse April 08, 2009

Audit regulators are weighing the latest accounting guidance on fair value and impairment to determine whether a change in audit rules is warranted.Mark Olson, chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, told a gathering of the board’s Standing Advisory Group that the board is taking a close look at...

PCAOB Plans Action on Engagement Quality Review

Tammy Whitehouse March 02, 2009

Audit regulators will meet on Wednesday to discuss how to proceed with a proposed auditing standard on engagement quality reviews that has been criticized as too extreme and too different from international standards.The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board first proposed its standard on the engagement quality review in February 2008....

PCAOB Offers Advice to Auditors of Smaller Companies

Tammy Whitehouse January 27, 2009

Auditors of smaller public companies that have so far escaped the audit of internal control over financial reporting are getting new direction from audit regulators to assure the first audit is appropriate to the size and complexity of the company.The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board published guidance for auditors of...

PCAOB’s Gradison Calls for Convergence of Audit Rules

Tammy Whitehouse December 19, 2008

A member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is calling on his fellow board members to get serious about converging public company auditing standards with international standards and those for private organizations in the United States.PCAOB member Bill Gradison is in Denver today to address the Colorado Society of...

CAQ Offers View on Testing Journal Entries to Spot Fraud

Tammy Whitehouse December 12, 2008

The Center for Audit Quality is encouraging audit firms to follow a common format for testing journal entries and other journal adjustments to make it easier for auditors to spot potential fraud.The CAQ developed a practice aid with the help of auditors from its various member firms for testing journal...

PCAOB Tells Auditors to Get More Skeptical

Tammy Whitehouse December 09, 2008

Auditors need to get more skeptical and supervisors need to get more engaged when it comes to crucial, high-risk financial reporting areas, according to a recent report from audit regulators.The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said audit deficiencies persist in many cases because auditors aren’t skeptical enough, especially at the...

Bracing for a Tough Year, PCAOB Seeks 9% Budget Increase

Tammy Whitehouse November 26, 2008

To regulate the auditing profession through market turmoil and a call for new auditing standards, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is looking for a 9-percent increase in its operating budget.The PCAOB is sending to the Securities and Exchange Commission a budget that would seek $157.6 million in funding for...

PCAOB Considers Audit Guidance in Market Turbulence

Tammy Whitehouse October 27, 2008

Audit regulators are thinking hard about whether they need to provide some guidance to auditors on where to pay close attention to audit work given extraordinary market conditions.In a meeting with its Standing Advisory Group last week, the staff of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board sounded off on a...

PCAOB Unveils Seven Risk Standards for Auditors

Tammy Whitehouse October 21, 2008

After years of planning and mulling how to do it, U.S. audit regulators are proposing seven new standards and an armload of related rule changes to tell auditors how to assess risk of misstatement in financial statements and what to do about it when they spot it.If approved, the weighty...

Compliance Week Podcasts ...

Every week we chat with leading thinkers in compliance, auditing, risk management, public policy and more. These short (10-15 minutes) interviews are free to all. Follow Compliance Week podcasts on iTunes.

Compliance Week LinkedIn Group

Compliance Week now has a companion group on LinkedIn, where members can network and discuss the compliance and governance news of the day. Open to all compliance professionals, free to join.

Survey of the Week

Deloitte is conducting their annual Look Before You Leap: Managing Risks in Global Investments survey to better understand the approaches companies are taking to address compliance and integrity-related risks in emerging markets.