Comments: proposed use of specialists, pricing services

On Feb. 3, Grant Thornton LLP submitted a comment letter in response to the AICPA Auditing Standards Board’s Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards, Amendments to AU-C Sections 501, 540, and 620 Related to the Use of Specialists and the Use of Pricing Information Obtained from External Information Sources. The firm supports the proposed amendments, which call for, among other things, incorporating the PCAOB’s requirements over the auditor’s use of pricing services (Appendix A in Auditing Standard 2501) as guidance into AU-C Section 540.

The auditor’s use of pricing services has historically been a challenging area for auditors, and we believe this guidance would not only provide helpful direction to auditors, but would also enhance audit quality in this area. We do provide several recommendations that we believe can further improve the clarity of the proposed guidance.

To read our comments in full, download our comment letter here.