All PCAOB articles – Page 22
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Blog
PCAOB to Air Corporate Angst Over Internal Control Audits
Image: The PCAOB will convene its Investor Advisory Group in September to explore criticisms that the regulatory approach around internal controls is out of step with risk. Specifically, the group will address a recent letter from Tom Quaadman, vice president of the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness at the Chamber ...
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Article
Trying for More Clarity on Work of Audit Specialists
Image: Another question on the way to a better corporate audit: whether audit firms need new rules to scrutinize the work of specialists, crucial players in producing fairly stated financial statements. The PCAOB wants to end confusion over specialists, which should help auditor and client company alike. “If you look ...
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Blog
Internal Control Audits Improving, to a Point
Image: Audits of internal control over financial reporting are starting to improve, but it’s still too early to say if audit practice has turned the corner as fully as regulators want, according to PCAOB Member Jeanette Franzel. Franzel said internal control over financial reporting continues to be the most frequent ...
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Blog
Follett Joins Weaver’s Quality and Risk Management Group
Tim Follett has joined Weaver, the largest independent accounting firm in the Southwest, as an assurance partner in the firm’s quality and risk management group. He will focus on developing tools, resources, guidance, policies and processes associated with firm compliance, risk management, administration and operations.
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Blog
How Hard Is Audit Committee Reform? Here’s One Example
Image: The SEC has asked for public comment on possible changes to the disclosures audit committees are required to make, and let’s be honest: for a subject this thorny, the SEC needs all the help it can get. Compliance Week editor Matt Kelly explores one example of reform—communication between audit ...
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Blog
PCAOB Sanctions Small Firms for Quality Reviews
Audit regulators have disciplined seven small audit firms and some of their employees for lapses in internal reviews of audit engagement reviews. The PCAOB censured the seven firms, from across the country, together with seven individuals and the companies for their violations of Auditing Standard No. 7: Engagement Quality Review. ...
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Blog
PwC Shows Small Improvement in Latest Inspection Report
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board found fault with 29 percent of the 58 audits inspected at PwC in 2014, a slight improvement over the 32 percent reported in 2013. The PCAOB says out of 17 of the flagged audits, nine contained problems with both the financial statement audit and ...
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Blog
Rotation May Hinder Audit Quality, Study Says
A new study from the American Accounting Association suggests rotating auditors may not be such a good idea, especially as regulators are getting tough on auditors to show more skepticism. “Rotating auditors, aware that they will not be in a long-term relationship, will ... likely perceive themselves to be less ...
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Blog
Deloitte Survey Shows Audit Stakeholders Want More From Audit
Image: A Deloitte survey shows that a big majority want to see auditors providing assurance on more than just financial statements, and they want to see auditors making better use of technology. “Many investors are looking for broader and deeper insights that can help them make smarter, more informed decisions,” ...
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Article
PCAOB, SEC Redouble Efforts on Audit Quality
Image: The SEC and PCAOB are pushing this summer to clarify and improve “audit quality.” That might be a proposal to name the engagement partner working on corporate audits (PCAOB idea), or an exploration of new disclosure requirements for audit committees (SEC idea), or both. “I would urge commenters to ...
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Blog
SEC Poses Long List of Possible Audit Committee Disclosures
Only a day after audit regulators have proposed a new method for extracting from audit firms the names of engagement partners on each public company audit, the SEC blew open the discussion with a long list of its own questions about whether audit committees should provide that and many more ...
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Blog
SEC Slaps Deloitte for Auditor Independence Violations
The SEC has charged Deloitte & Touche with violating auditor independence rules after it failed to notice a consulting affiliate had a business relationship with an audit client. Deloitte says it discovered the violation and reported it after the firm put in place enhanced independence measures. Deloitte will settle charges ...
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Blog
EY Shows Improvement in Latest Inspection Report
EY earned a 36-percent deficiency rating in its latest audit inspection report, with the majority of the busted audits showing problems in both the financial statement audit and the audit of internal control over financial reporting—an improvement over its 2013 record failure of 49 percent, but not enough to beat ...
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Blog
PCAOB Revisits Naming Engagement Partner, Audit Quality Metrics
Audit regulators are trying again to propose a rule that would give investors more information about who is working behind the curtain when an audit firm files its final report on a company’s financial statements.
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Article
Smaller Companies Struggle Forward on SOX Compliance, System Investments
More grist for smaller reporting companies unhappy with your compliance burdens: A new report finds that although all businesses continue to invest in SOX compliance, smaller companies still report less benefit from the effort. Inside, we look at which parts of compliance are most troublesome for small filers (“If they ...
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Blog
Big 4 Make Big Gains in Consulting Services, Report Says
Image: According to a new report from Source Information Services, Big 4 accounting firms outperformed the U.S. market in 2014, growing 12.8 percent to $17.5 billion in revenue compared with 2.4 percent growth for the economy overall. The U.S. market for consulting grew 9 percent in 2014 to more than ...
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Blog
SEC Might Explore Auditor Tenure for Audit Committee Disclosure
Image: When the SEC issues its audit committee discussion paper, it likely will explore more on the audit firm’s tenure and naming engagement partners. As the PCAOB has tried to get consensus on these themes, the board has heard pushback that the disclosure is better placed in audit committee reports, ...
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Blog
Audit Committees Get Fresh Tips on Evaluating Auditors
Image: The Audit Committee Collaboration, backed by seven groups with various missions around corporate governance and investor advocacy, has updated its External Auditor Assessment Tool, tips to help audit committees conduct their evaluation of external auditors. Cindy Fornelli, executive director of the Center for Audit Quality, says the tool “can ...
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Blog
Deloitte Inspection Report Shows Reduced Audit Deficiencies
PCAOB audit inspectors found fault with 21 percent of the audits inspected at Deloitte in 2014, lower than any rate delivered for any major firm since 2009 and lower than Deloitte’s failure rate from one year ago. The report also revealed a new format for PCAOB inspection reports. More inside.
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Article
More Hints at More Audit Committee Disclosure
Image: The SEC plans a concept release “soon” that could modernize audit committee disclosures for the first time in years, including touchy subjects like naming the audit engagement partner. Expect awkward questions to follow about how audit firms are hired and perform the work they do. “This foreshadows what I ...