Announcing PCAOB’s new auditor’s reporting model

In June 2017,  the United States Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB ) issued a new standard and related amendments called “The Auditor's Report on an Audit of Financial Statements When the Auditor Expresses an Unqualified Opinion and Related Amendments to PCAOB Standards”. The new standard creates the first significant change to the standard form auditor’s report in 70 years. Reports prepared by public company auditors will contain more information for investors and other financial statement users as a result of new rules.

Under the new standard, the auditor's report will retain the pass/fail opinion of the existing auditor’s report but will also include a new description of “critical audit matters,” providing financial statement users with information about complex aspects of the audit. Critical audit matters are any matters arising from the current period's audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee, and that (1) Relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements, and (2) Involved especially challenging, subjective or complex auditor judgment.

The US Center for Audit Quality (CAQ), affiliated with the AICPA, views the new standard as a positive step toward continuous improvement of the audit to better serve investors and capital markets. The CAQ welcomes the enhanced auditor’s reporting model to provide additional information to investors and other stakeholders in an increasingly complex and global business environment. It noted the PCAOB’s responsiveness to the auditing profession’s concerns and recommendations throughout the proposal process, including observations from the CAQ’s field-testing.

In October 2017, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unanimously approved the PCAOB’s new auditor’s reporting standard, supporting the communication of “critical audit matters” as a way for auditors to provide more information to investors and the public.

For more information on the work of the PCAOB with regards to professional judgment and the auditor, review previous blog postings.

Addressing Unconscious Bias in Decision Making

According to a recent article in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Journal of Accountancy, many professionals, without realizing it, make “unconscious” choices regarding those who are different in terms of race, gender, geographic origin, college education and other factors. This “unconscious bias” is a hidden bias that can significantly undermine good decision making and impacts both personal and business decisions.

How much do you know about unconscious bias? Try a short, 10-question, online quiz to help test your knowledge on the subject. To learn more, watch the following AICPA Unconscious Bias webcast series of three information videos:

• “Help Me in the Heart - Understanding Unconscious Bias”: This session will help participants understand the full scope of what unconscious bias entails, where it comes from, and the areas of business it impacts. 
• “Look Me in the Brain – Identifying Unconscious Bias”: This session will help participants identify personal biases which might be holding us back from true inclusiveness.
• “Fix Me in the Act – Managing Unconscious Bias”: This session will help participants manage biases in a constructive manner to obtain the highest level of inclusiveness and performance. 

In addition, review previous blog postings on “bias” and how it affects the exercise of professional judgment.