AICPA RSS
x
Username

Password

Remember Me Register | Forgot Username? | Password?


Home Interest Areas Financial Reporting Center Audit and Attest

Audit and Attest

Audit and Attest Services 

Image Map


If you perform audit and attest engagements, the information and resources here will help you stay informed of changes to audit and attest standards, perform your engagements, and be aware of common pitfalls in these engagements.

The Auditing Standards Board promulgates Statements on Auditing Standards (SAS), Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) and Statements on Quality Control Standards (SQCS), and, as a part of its due process, releases Exposure Drafts of proposed standards. The AICPA also issues interpretive and other publications to assist practioners in understanding and applying the standards.


 

 

 
Planning

 

 Fieldwork

 

 Reporting

 

Hot Topics

Clarity Project

The Auditing Standards Board of the AICPA has reached a significant milestone in its Clarity Project with the release of Statements on Auditing Standards Nos. 122–124. Effective for audits of financial statements for periods ending on or after 12/15/12, SAS Nos. 122–124 supersede all but seven outstanding SASs through No. 121. SAS No. 122 contains a Preface and 39 clarified SASs. SAS No. 123 contains amendments to clarified SAS Nos. 117–118 and five clarified SASs in SAS No. 122. SAS No. 124 contains one additional clarified SAS. Click here for a complete description. Access additional resources here to ensure you and your firm are prepared for the changes.



Focus on Peer Review

Peer Review promotes quality in accounting and auditing services provided by AICPA members and their firms. Peer Review serves the public interest while contributing to the quality and effectiveness of member firm practices. Here are the top 5 matters recently identified in audit and attest engagements, each of which include further discussion so you can avoid these common pitfalls.


 

 Internal Control

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) Framework you are familiar with is changing. COSO is reviewing and updating the Framework the profession has used for almost 20 years. Expected to be finalized in 2012, the goal is to make the Framework and related evaluation tools more relevant in the increasingly complex business environment. COSO has prepared FAQs related to the project and has noted enhancements to the Framework are not intended to alter the core principles first developed in 1992, but rather facilitate a more robust discussion of internal control.

COSO has released a draft of an updated Internal Control framework and the AICPA has released a whitepaper regarding the changes to the framework. More information is available.


Standards Tracker

In an effort to keep its members informed, the AICPA has created a Standards Tracker. This tool will keep members up to date regarding the most recent guidance made available by standard setters, filtered in order to give you only what you need to know.

 


Quality Control

Firms that are enrolled in an AICPA-approved practice-monitoring program are obligated to adhere to the Statements on Quality Control Standards (SQCS) as issued by the ASB. The SQCSs do not address the quality control ramifications of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act nor the quality control ramifications of the PCAOB standards that must be followed by auditors of issuers. 

Learn more about a Firm's System of Quality Control.


 NewsNews

TrainingTraining & Development

Copyright © 2006-2012 American Institute of CPAs.