As they consider new and emerging issues that could command new rulemaking, audit regulators are looking for advice on going concern determinations, audit quality reviews, and audit confirmations.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is assembling its Standing Advisory Group to discuss those and other emerging audit issues for help in determining future rulemaking direction. Given the ongoing and persistent state of the economy, the group will be focusing attention on the auditor’s requirement to assess whether there’s reason to doubt an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern, especially in light of plans at the Financial Accounting Standards Board to bring the issue into accounting literature as well.

FASB’s proposed standard would require entities to look at least a year into the future to reach the going concern determination, while current auditing standards specify a timeline of no more than a year. The PCAOB wants to explore that timeline in a panel discussion and hear views from its advisory group about how it might impact the audit. The board also wants to hear advisers’ views on other issues related to the going concern determination, including audit procedures, projections and forecasts, language in the audit report, and other considerations.

The board also is considering the need to update standards around audit confirmations, which have been on the books for more than 15 years. Noting significant advancements in technology over that time period, the board wants to question advisers about whether the current standard leaves too many opportunities for fraud.

Finally, the board also wants to get advisers’ feedback on a revamped standard regarding engagement quality reviews. The PCAOB recently republished a draft standard after its first go-round drew a wide array of criticisms and suggestions, especially around the assurance threshold quality reviewers would have been expected to assert when signing off on the audit.

The advisory group will meet in an all-day session, which can be monitored by Webcast, on April 2.