Comment: PCAOB proposed amendments

In our letter responding to the PCAOB’s proposed Auditing Standard, General Responsibilities of the Auditor in Conducting an Audit and Proposed Amendments to PCAOB Standards, we support the Board’s initiative to modernize and clarify its “foundational standards,” to reflect changes in the auditing environment, and to eliminate outdated or inconsistent language. Still, we have raised some significant concerns regarding the potential for unintended consequences that might occur because of the way the Board has proposed updating and streamlining the requirements. Paramount among our concerns is that the proposed standard could exacerbate the “expectations gap” between the assurance that an investor (or another market participant) may believe an audit provides versus the assurance that can reasonably be provided, even through a properly planned and performed audit.

Download our letter to read our comments in full.