AICPA Risk Assessment Resources
Identifying, assessing and responding to risks of material misstatement are at the core of every audit. However, a recent survey of peer reviewers found over half of 400 audits they reviewed were non-conforming because of non-compliance with the risk assessment standard. Follow the advice in this risk assessment infographic to avoid common missteps.
The resources below will help you perform more effective risk assessments, appropriately link your risk assessments to your audit procedures and comply with the standards.
This comprehensive template will help you identify, assess and document your planned response to risks of material misstatement and make your audit more effective and more efficient.
Risk Assessment Deep Dive: How to Avoid Common Missteps
This self-study CPE course walks through the most pervasive issues the Peer Review team has uncovered and how to avoid them in your practice.
This tool will help you identify non-conformity with AU-C 315 and AU-C 330 during your firm’s internal inspection. The aid also provides guidance on how those findings should be addressed.
Get answers to the most common AU-C 315 and 330 questions received by the Center for Plain English Accounting (CPEA). The CPEA’s team of experts helps member firms understand and implement standards by sharing technical advice in a straightforward manner.
Quiz: Is your audit addressing your client’s risks?
Take this quick quiz from the Journal of Accountancy to see if you’re up to speed on how to assess and respond to risk.
Staff Training Workshop Presentation (PPT)
Use this PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes and this staff training case study to educate your firm on proper risk assessment and response as well as common misconceptions to avoid.
Other Resources
- Risk assessment podcast episode- In this episode of the Small Firm Philosophy podcast, Carl Mayes, CPA, and Lindsay Patterson discuss the role of risk assessment in audit quality, share advice for small firms and point out helpful resources.
- Employee benefit plans
- Audit Advisory: Performing risk assessments in EBP audits - This advisory offers an update on recent AICPA Peer Review Board findings related to risk assessment, and can help you properly apply risk assessment standards in employee benefit plan audits.
- Common risks by industry
We’ve developed resources to help you identify risks when auditing defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans, health and welfare plans and ESOPs. More industry-specific guidance is under development and will be posted soon.
- Aid for identifying controls at smaller entities - You may think a smaller client has no controls, but that’s virtually never the case. Even the smallest entities have policies and procedures designed to prevent or detect and correct material misstatements. This aid will assist you in identifying controls at your smaller clients.
- 4 tips to identify audit client risks, AICPA Insights, November 2018
- Why assess audit risk? So you don’t get lost in the woods, AICPA Insights, August 2018
- Taking the risk out of risk assessment, Journal of Accountancy, August 2018
- Audit guide - The definitive source for guidance on applying the core principles of the risk-based audit methodology required for all financial statement audits.
- Microlearning sessions - These short videos share best practices that you can apply to your audit engagements. Use the knowledge you learn to identify, assess and respond to risks of material misstatement.
