'Audit Period' Tweaks Rule Implementation

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will delay implementation for one part of a rule relating to professionals who provide both tax and audit services to companies.Adopted in July 2005, Rule 3523, “Tax Services for Persons in Financial Reporting Oversight Roles,” went into effect on Oct. 31. The rule prohibits auditors from providing tax services to certain members of management who serve in financial reporting oversight roles at an audit client.

At the time of adoption, the PCAOB said that the rule would apply to all tax services performed during the “audit and professional engagement period.” As part of this week’s announcement, the board said that it will be revisiting the application of the rule to the period before a firm becomes the auditor of record -- the "audit period."

The rule will not go into effect for tax services provided on or before April 30, 2007 -- so long as those services were actually provided during the audit period and have been completed before the engagement began. The implementation schedule for Rule 3523, as it applies to tax services provided during the professional engagement period, remains unchanged.

The implementation deadline was extended once before, due to comment periods and the need for final rule approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The full PCAOB release is available at www.pcaobus.org/Rules/Docket_017/2006-10-31_Release_2006-006.pdf.

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