The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has decided to re-propose seven auditing standards and amendments that would change the requirements for assessing audit risks.
The PCAOB had initially proposed the standards in October 2008, but has revised them in response to the comments it received and again opened them for comment (see
The re-proposed standards aim to enhance the effectiveness of an auditors assessment and response to risk. The re-proposed standards emphasize the auditors responsibility to consider the risk of fraud throughout an audit and contain new requirements intended to improve an auditors evaluation of disclosures in financial statements.
A sound and sophisticated risk assessment is essential to performing an audit that affords investors reasonable assurance that financial statements are free of material error, said acting PCAOB chairman Daniel L. Goelzer in a statement. These seven standards once finalized will serve as the bedrock for much of the boards future standard-setting.
The PCAOB is seeking comments on the latest versions of the proposed standards until March 2, 2010. For more information, visit