The AICPA’s Accounting & Review Services Committee (ARSC) has issued an exposure draft titled Quality Management for an Engagement Performed In Accordance with SSARS. As the AICPA has already exposed changes to the current quality control standards and a related SAS about QM at the engagement level, ARSC is providing guidance on the application of QM to SSARS engagements. Comments are due by January 31, 2022.
The AICPA has extended the comment period for the trio of Quality Management proposals from June 11, 2021 to August 31, 2021; likely due to the extended tax season and lots of other exciting happenings. They have also provided a few glossary documents that provide executive summaries about the proposals and a sample comment letter template for those who may not be comfortable with writing feedback from scratch. They are also hosting a series of round tables in May and June that are open to the public that will feature a summary of the proposed statements followed by a live Q&A. Each roundtable will offer up to 1.5 hours of CPE and be limited to no more than 50 participants.
The AICPA has issued a very narrow proposal to add a new requirement for successor auditors to discuss suspected fraud and NOCLAR with predecessor auditors if granted permission by management as part of the client acceptance process. This is the first of two blogs addressing new requirements regarding NOCLAR.
The AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board has issued some proposed targeted improvements to guidance on the use of specialists and external pricing sources. The proposal incorporates some PCAOB guidance and provides additional application guidance for AU-C 501, 540 and 620. Comments are due February 4, 2021.
Cryptocurrency is becoming a more recognized transaction with more entities participating in this ecosystem. The AICPA has issued non-authoritative guidance on accounting and auditing digital assets. Current FASB does not have authoritative guidance in this area, so the practice aid addresses some common considerations. In addition, it addresses the questions firms need to address before accepting a client and provides procedures to ensure that digital asset risks are properly identified and an appropriate audit response is performed. We’ll take a high-level look at some of the considerations for those contemplating moving into this area.
