“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” —George Santayana Public criticism of the accounting profession is intense. Users of financial statements…
In Brief Auditors bear many responsibilities to their clients, but they also have a duty to uphold the public trust. The negative actions of clients…
Since the issuance 14 years ago of the current audit documentation standards [now AU-C 230 and PCAOB Auditing Standard (AS) 1215, respectively], which are more…
New Revenue Recognition Guidance and the Potential for Fraud and Abuse
Are Companies and Auditors Ready?
In Brief Now that FASB's new revenue recognition standard is effective, it is worth considering how well the guidance meets the goals originally set by…
Failure Study
A Needed Addition to the Accounting Toolkit
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” —George Santayana Public criticism of the accounting profession is intense. Users of financial statements…
Brown began the panel by talking about the PCAOB's current status and objectives following the installment of an entirely new board by the SEC at…
In Brief The audit world is changing. Technology has transformed business processes and created a wealth of data that can be leveraged by accountants and…
Students today know much more about technology than their counterparts a generation ago. The advances in technology over the past two decades have forced them…
A search for unrecorded liabilities is a fundamental, almost universally applied procedure in all audits. The scope of such a search frequently includes a sampling…
I am disappointed in Samuel P. Gunther's critique (“Independent Auditors Are Not Fiduciaries,” June 2017, http://bit.ly/2uJWYYF) of Richard Kravitz's April 2017 article, “Serving the Public Interest:…
Our Greatest Hits| The five assertions: Categories of assertions about which auditors must collect adequate evidence to support financial statement items
From The CPA Journal Archives
"Our Greatest Hits" is an effort to show our readers the most popular - and still avidly read - articles from our archives. This article…
Report: Revenue Changes for Software Industry May be Significant
FASB/PCAOB News
FASB News Report: Revenue Changes for Software Industry May be Significant FASB’s sweeping new revenue recognition rules go into effect in 2018, removing approximately 200…
In “Serving the Public Interest—Promoting Better Government Reporting and Sustainable Corporate Governance” (April 2017), Editor-in-Chief Richard Kravitz states, “I would argue that [external] auditors have…
Visual and Text Analytics
The Next Step in Forensic Auditing and Accounting
In Brief Data analytic software has become a ubiquitous tool for both auditors and forensic accountants. Most practices, however, still confine themselves to the use…
In Brief The audit world is changing. Technology has transformed business processes and created a wealth of data that can be leveraged by accountants and…
Audit Analytics is an independent research firm that provides customized databases for audit, regulatory, and disclosure applications. Its website (http://www.auditanalytics.com) allows access to data on…
With its issuance of Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-15, Presentation of Financial Statements—Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40): Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity's Ability to Continue as…
What is the state of audit quality today? There are a number of different ways to interpret, as well as answer, that question. The variety…
What Auditors Need to Know about SOX Section 404(a) Reports
Hidden Risks and Responsibilities
Since the PCAOB's Auditing Standard (AS) 5, now reorganized as AS 2201, replaced AS 2 in 2007, auditors for publicly held companies (i.e., issuers) no…