Assurance Services Executive Committee

Background
The work of the Assurance Services Executive Committee (ASEC) is intended to address the needs of all AICPA members in all areas of practice or business who prepare or attest to information not covered by other authoritative standards. The Committee’s focus is on (1) filling voids in providing assurance on information as it moves through the entire business information supply chain, covering both internal and external reporting and (2) developing practice guidance that will assist CPAs in industry, government, or public practice in implementing new assurance methodologies and services.

Mission and Objectives of the ASEC
The mission of the Committee is to assure the quality, relevance, and usefulness of information or its context for decision makers and other users by (1) identifying and prioritizing emerging trends and market needs for assurance, and (2) developing related assurance methodology guidance and tools as needed. The Committee will achieve its mission by:

identifying significant trends giving rise to assurance needs, and determining the potential assurance guidance that would best meet those needs;
developing assurance guidance by creating suitable criteria when necessary, and/or performance guidance, as appropriate;
communicating new assurance methodologies, guidance, and opportunities to our members;
create alliances with industry, government, or other specialized groups to improve member access to new assurance opportunities;
provide leadership in identifying and prioritizing emerging assurance trends and market needs while engaging users, preparers, and influencers toward action.

ASEC White Paper
The purpose of the ASEC white paper The Shifting Paradigm in Business Reporting and Oversight is to highlight significant trends, which give rise to emerging reporting and assurance opportunities and needs. It is intended to help build awareness of these trends and opportunities, and to lay out a plan that supports the continued importance and sustainability of the accounting profession in a changing world. The subject matter outlined in the paper is of interest to AICPA members, including both members in public practice and business and industry, those in the accounting profession as a whole, and other participants in the business reporting supply chain including producers and consumers of business information.

Download the full document:
April 2008 ASEC White Paper: The Shifting Paradigm in Business Reporting and Oversight

XBRL Q&As
The ASEC has developed a series of questions and answers to educate accounting professionals about XBRL and the SEC’s Final Rules on XBRL. Click the following links to download the documents.

ASEC Task Forces
The Committee has established two task forces which align with its mission:

XBRL Assurance Task Force
ASEC established the XBRL Assurance Task Force to develop guidance that will assist CPAs in public practice who are requested to provide assurance on XBRL-related documents. The task force will focus on:

Developing practice guidance that will assist CPAs in applying existing standards to information reported in XBRL format (i.e., new applications of existing standards);
Recommending, where deemed necessary and appropriate, to the appropriate standard setting bodies changes to existing standards and/or the development of new standards; and
Collaborating with key stakeholders such as SEC, PCAOB, ASB, ASEC, CAQ PPEC, XBRL US, and the International Assurance Working Group.

Trust Services/Data Integrity Task Force
The ASEC Trust Services/Data Integrity Task Force will focus on updating and maintaining the Trust Services Principles and Criteria (TSPC) and developing a framework of principles and criteria for data integrity.

Trust Services are a set of professional attestation and advisory services based on a core set of principles and criteria that address the risks and opportunities of IT-enabled systems and privacy programs. The following principles and related criteria are used by practitioners in the performance of Trust Services engagements:

Security. The system is protected against unauthorized access (both physical and logical).

Availability. The system is available for operation and use as committed or agreed.

Processing integrity. System processing is complete, accurate, timely, and authorized.

Confidentiality. Information designated as confidential is protected as committed or agreed.

Privacy. Personal information is collected, used, retained, and disclosed in conformity with the commitments in the entity’s privacy notice and with criteria set forth in Generally Accepted Privacy Principles issued by the AICPA/CICA.

The TSPC of security, availability and processing integrity are used to evaluate whether a system is reliable. The TSPC can be found in the AICPA Technical Practice Aids Volume 1. SysTrust and WebTrust are two specific branded assurance services offerings that are based on the TSPC. Practitioners must be licensed by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) to use these registered service marks. For more information on licensure see www.webtrust.org.