Audit standards

Recent changes to international standards for audit reports have improved the quality of information that’s available to investors, and had a positive impact on wider elements of financial reporting, including governance and corporate reporting, according to a new report from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Foreign affiliates of KPMG, Deloitte & Touche and BDO have agreed to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission for getting involved in audit work that circumvented the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s full oversight.

Efforts in the U.S. and Europe to encourage public companies to change audit firms have largely failed, according to new academic research.

International Federation of Accountants CEO Fayezul Choudhury, and IFAC CFO and executive director for external relations Russell Guthrie, talk about how international financial regulators are mulling changes in how global auditing standards are set.

Internal controls, the new lease accounting standard and cybersecurity are just some of the issues keeping financial executives up at night, according to a new survey by KPMG.

Audit committees at public companies will have plenty on their agendas this year, according to a pair of new reports from KPMG, including new accounting standards, the new tax law, cyber security and more.

Auditing firms cannot be expected to root out evil, or to conduct full forensic investigations.

The board’s staff are offering additional information on determining auditor tenure.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said Wednesday it has imposed a $1.5 million civil penalty against Grant Thornton LLP and censure the firm for violations of quality control standards and for audit failures.

The International Federation of Accountants is expressing alarm about recent proposals from a group of global financial regulators to separate its standard-setting boards for auditing and ethics.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed William Duhnke to succeed James Doty at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has released staff guidance on the new audit reporting standard and is hosting webinars to help auditors with preparing the new reports.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Auditing Standards Board has released three exposure drafts proposing ways to improve the usefulness of the auditor’s report, in response to recent standards from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.

Auditors face a special dilemma when it comes to determining if a client can continue, says Stephen Franciosa.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has approved a reduced budget for fiscal year 2018 of approximately $259.9 million along with a strategic plan for 2017-2021, plus a smaller accounting support fee and staff.

Increases in audit fees paid by public companies aren’t necessarily producing better audit quality, according to a new report.

A prominent investor group is applauding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval this week of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s new standard expanding the scope of the audit report.

The number of audit deficiencies tied to fair value measurements is still high, but declined for the second year in a row, according to a new analysis of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board inspection reports on auditing firms.

The Securities and Exchange Commission gave its approval Monday to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s new standard for an enhanced audit report.

Companies and their auditors are getting ready for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s new audit reporting model, despite uncertainty over whether the Securities and Exchange Commission will approve the new standard.