Although still in the proposal stage, there has been substantial movement by both FASB and the SEC on major issues discussed by this author in…
ICYMI | Unsolved Problems in Auditing: A Half Century Retrospective and an Update
2016 Max Block Award Winner: Outstanding Article in the Area of In Focus/Feature
Auditing has been an ever-changing discipline since its birth over 100 years ago, but how much have the challenges auditors face really evolved over the…
The Audit Report Returns to Its Roots
An Historical Perspective on Critical Audit Matters
The evolution of the standard audit report has been slow and cautious over the past century. Most recently, in 2011, the AICPA's Auditing Standards Board…
Auditors are required to communicate to audit committees or others charged with governance “significant control deficiencies,” including “material weaknesses” [as these terms are defined in…
Has the DOL Pushed the ASB Too Far?
Push Back—Now!
In April 2017, the AICPA's Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued an Exposure Draft Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards (the ED) entitled “Forming an Opinion and…
The modern marvel of Facebook and other social networking sites has been consuming the leisure time of many Americans for quite a while now, and…
Editor's Note: The following guidance applies to non–publicly held entities. Guidance for SEC issuers under PCAOB standards may differ. Agreed-upon procedures engagements are a special type…
Editor's note: The following is a supplement to the author's “Depreciable Asset Lives: The Forgotten Estimate in GAAP,” published in the September 2016 CPA Journal.…
AUD | Has the SEC Awakened a Sleeping Giant?
The Familiarity Threat to Auditor Independence
For over 50 years, observers have questioned whether auditors who provide consulting or other nonattest services to their clients can be independent, and regulators continue…