Protiviti: Companies are Spending More Time and Money on SOX Compliance
Consulting firm Protiviti has released the 2021 edition of its annual survey of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) compliance costs, SOX Compliance...
How Audit Committees Can Maximize Their Value
Tapestry Networks (“Tapestry”), a professional services company that “enables senior leaders from the public and private sector to engage...
Experience Counts – It Helps to Have an Accountant on the Audit Committee
Recent academic studies examine the consequences of two aspects of audit committee membership – accounting expertise and committee chair...
CAQ Analyses the Value of the Audit
The Center for Audit Quality has published Value of the Audit: A Brief History and the Path Forward. Value of the Audit provides an...
The State of Sustainability Assurance: It Varies
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (Association),...
How Does ESG Affect Accounting and Financial Reporting?
Deloitte has released Do ESG Matters Affect Accounting and Financial Reporting Today?, a brief primer on potential effects of...
The Housecleaning at the PCAOB: Why it Matters
On June 16, I was a guest on Tom Selman’s podcast, Two Minutes with Tom. We discussed the SEC’s decision to replace the members of the...
SEC Removes the Chair and Plans to Clean House at the PCAOB
On June 4, the SEC announced that it had removed William Duhnke from his position as Chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight...
CAQ Issues an Alert on SPACs
The Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) has released Auditor and Audit Committee Considerations Relating to Special Purpose Acquisition...
The IIA Urges that Internal Audit Play a Key Role in ESG Strategy
The Institute of Internal Auditors has released a White Paper entitled Internal Audit’s Role in ESG Reporting. The paper discusses risks...
CAQ Provides an Overview of Amendments to the Auditor Independence Rules
In Amendments to SEC Independence Rules, an Alert issued on June 10, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) summarizes recent amendments to...
Survey Finds that Audit Fees are Expected to Rise in 2021
According to the results of a survey conducted by research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc., respondents expect external audit fees to...
Climate Change is Rapidly Becoming an SEC Priority
The SEC is signaling that disclosure concerning climate change, and ESG issues broadly, will be a priority in 2021. New SEC Chair Gary...
PCAOB Releases 2021 Inspections Outlook and Audit Committee/Auditor Dialogue Tool
On April 6, the PCAOB released Spotlight: Staff Outlook for 2021 Inspections (2021 Outlook). This annual publication outlines areas the...
CAQ Provides Guidance on Auditor ESG Assurance
In July 2020, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) released a web-based report outlining the evolving role of auditors in ESG reporting....
EY on How Audit Committees Can Prepare for First Quarter Reporting
The EY Center for Board Matters has issued How audit committees can prepare for 2021 Q1 reporting. The report notes that companies are...
FERF Finds that Audit Fees Continue Their Upward March
The Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), the research affiliate of Financial Executives International (FEI), has released the...
Accounting Class Actions Increase and Settlements are More Expensive
Cornerstone Research has issued its annual report on accounting class action litigation. It makes clear that suing public companies for...
The PCAOB Speaks – With Audit Committee Chairs
During its 2020 inspections, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board offered the audit committee chairs of most of the U.S. public...
How is Internal Audit Doing? The IIA Has a Tool to Help Audit Committees Answer That Question
The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) has released Internal Audit Assessment Tool for Audit Committees to assist boards and audit...