Audit Quality Center Launched

The AICPA has formed an Audit Quality Center for CPA firms that audit employee benefit plans. The Center, the second of three AICPA Audit Quality Centers launched in recent months, is now accepting member applications.

Following approval by the AICPA Governing Council at its Fall 2003 meeting, the Institute has moved ahead with creating three new audit quality centers focusing on areas of critical importance to the public interest: public companies, employee benefit plans, and governmental entities. In November 2003, the Institute began defining aspects of the new Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center by forming an Executive Committee appointed by Chairman S. Scott Voynich. Center membership requirements were established by the Committee and the Board of Directors in February 2004.

Enhancing audit quality
According to Mr. Voynich, “The launch of the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center is intended to provide a forum that spurs CPA firms performing audits to make immediate quality improvements to employee benefit plan audits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), including pension, health and welfare, and 401(k) plans.” Voynich added, “In addition to gaining access to best practices, guidelines, and tools focused around quality improvement, members of the Center will be subject to membership requirements that demonstrate the firm’s commitment to audit quality in this area.”

The launching of the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center in effect is a culmination of several efforts that the Institute, working closely with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), has put into place over the years. The need for improved quality of practice in this area has long been a subject of discussion between the Institute and the DOL.

“These Centers are intended to make a direct statement to members of our profession about the importance of their audit performance,” said Susan Coffey, Vice President, Audit Quality and Professional Ethics. “The Center will give members the tools to adhere to a high standard of quality. It will be a place where firms will share best practices, learn about emerging issues, and take steps to enhance quality in their practices.”

The need for such tools to ensure audit quality is clear in the comment of Ray Roberts, a practitioner based in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and a member of the PCPS/MAP Executive Committee:

“We are looking forward to a single place where we can get information about ERISA audits. Being from a rural community, it is important to us to have the ability to get information or ask questions from knowledgeable professionals.”

A dedicated Center Web site at http://www.aicpa.org/ebpaqc/homepage.htm, with a single access point to the latest developments in employee benefit plan audits, is now available to those wishing to learn more about the Center and its features.