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 through Oct. 21. PCAOB Acting Chairman Daniel Goelzer said in a statement the roundtable “will be designed to explore some of the key issues commentators have raised and to develop ideas on how to improve communications between the auditor and the audit committee.”

The board initially proposed the standard in late March to drive more relevant and more effective communication between auditors and their audit committee clients. The intention was to emphasize two-way communication, the PCAOB said. The original 60-day comment period ended May 28, with the board receiving 35 comment letters.

At a July 15 meeting of the PCAOB’s Standing Advisory Group, Goelzer said comments reflected a wide range of views. “A number of comments suggested that we needed to do more homework, more outreach on this subject,” he said. “Some thought we approached the subject too much from the perspective of the auditor and without a full appreciation of what audit committee members wanted or needed.”

A briefing paper to set the stage for the Sept. 21 roundtable says the board is holding the roundtable to get more insight from investors, audit committee members, auditors, and management on the proposed standard. The briefing paper outlines a number of questions the board wants to explore focused primary on what information is most relevant to audit committees, and how auditors and audit committees should communicate on those issues.

The paper says the board received a number of criticisms that the existing proposal creates requirements that are in some ways too broad and in other ways too prescriptive. Critics worried auditors would end up burying audit committees in details they don’t need or want, leading to a check-box compliance process adding little value to the audit.

Comments gave mixed reviews on the proposal’s requirements for documenting communication between the auditor and the audit committee, so the PCAOB wants to explore what kind documentation would be most beneficial to the audit process.

Comments also offered new suggestions for what auditors should provide to audit committees vs. management and how responsibilities for both the auditor and the audit committee should be spelled out in the engagement letter. The board poses several questions for roundtable discussions related to those issues as well.

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