Washington (Oct. 23, 2003) -- As yet another Sarbanes-Oxley related deadline passes, roughly 600 public accounting firms met the deadline to register with The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the body announced Wednesday.
As of the Oct. 22 deadline firms were required to meet in order to issue or prepare audit reports on U.S. public companies or that play a substantial role in the preparation of such audit reports, the PCAOB said it reviewed and approved registration applications from 598 firms.
The list of accounting firms now registered with the PCAOB can be found on the Board’s Web site,
“Registration is a prerequisite for accounting firms to continue their work as auditors of public companies,” said PCAOB Chairman William J. McDonough. “It is also the foundation, established in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, for the PCAOB to perform its important functions of inspection and enforcement.”
To facilitate inspection, the PCAOB will establish regional offices in the Atlanta, Dallas and San Francisco areas. Inspectors are currently based in the PCAOB offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Regular inspections will occur every year for firms with more than 100 audit clients. Other firms will be inspected once every three years. McDonough noted that the board can order a special inspection, regardless of timing “when the Board thinks circumstances warrant.”
-- WebCPA staff
