Does the PCAOB Undermine Auditor Professionalism?

In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and transformed public company auditing in the United States from a self-regulated, to a regulated, profession. The PCAOB’s statutory mission is to “further…

The Impact of Disclosing Engagement Partner Identity: No Clear Answer

By Dan Goelzer

In 2015, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board adopted a rule requiring accounting firms to make a filing disclosing the name of the engagement partner…

Congress Considers Legislation to End the Listing of Chinese Companies with Uninspectable Auditors

After years of fruitless negotiations between the PCAOB and Chinese regulators, Congress now has before it bipartisan legislation that would address a…

Would Auditing Improve If the PCAOB Brought More Enforcement Actions?

PCAOB Staff Guidance on Auditor Communications with Audit Committees About Independence Rule Breaches

By Dan Goelzer and Tom Riesenberg

It has often been said — and we fully agree — that auditor independence is essential to the…

Global Quality Control Initiative Moves Forward

By Tom Riesenberg

What is likely to be the most significant step towards improving audit quality since the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is taking place without much fanfare, at least thus far. And, unlike SOX, the initiative is coming from the…

Do Audit Committees Avoid Accounting Firms That Uncover Material Weaknesses?

Two researchers at the University of Arkansas have published a paper finding that audit firms that report material weaknesses in a client’s internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) pay an…

UK Developments

It may seem that Brexit is the only public policy issue currently being debated in the United Kingdom. But there is a surprising runner-up for governmental attention: the regulation and operation of audits.