...with PCAOB New Requirements The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) requires that any accounting firm that prepares or issues an audit report with respect to a U.S. public company must register with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Until recently, an accounting firm was required only to provide information current as of the initial registration date for the firm. Beginning on December 31, 2009, accounting firms were required to register with the PCAOB and file annual and current reports with the PCAOB. On August 13, 2009, the SEC approved the proposed rules with the original effective date of October 12, 2009, but on September 30, 2009, the PCAOB delayed the effective date to December 31, 2009. These parts implement the requirements of SOX section 102(d) that registered public accounting firms 1) report annual information about the firms and their audit practices, and 2) submit, as specified by the PCAOB or the SEC, more frequent information necessary to update the information previously filed with the PCAOB. Until now, the PCAOB had no requirement for annual reports or amendments to report material changes in initial registration information. The purposes of the new sections are 1) to keep the PCAOB up to date on a firm's basic professional information, such as name, location, licenses, and contact information; 2) to provide the PCAOB with current information regarding a firm's audit practice in order to facilitate analysis and inspection by the PCAOB and keep...
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...Access the PCAOB Website ( www.pcaob.org) and list two new or proposed auditing standards issued by the PCAOB. Auditing Standard no .18: Related Parties The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) standard on auditing transactions with related parties and amendments to PCAOB standards on significant unusual transactions and a company’s transactions and financial relationships with its executive officers. The standard includes new requirements for evaluating how a company identifies, accounts for and discloses its transactions and relationships with related parties. The amendments also require auditors to perform procedures to (1) help them identify and evaluate the business purpose of the significant unusual transaction (2) Obtain understanding of a company’s financial relationship with its executive officers and also understanding their employment contracts. The PCAOB developed this standard and amendment to focus on the auditor’s areas that have been associated with risks and fraudulent financial reporting errors, the PCAOB hopes the new standard will increase the auditors like hood to identify material misstatement on financial statements. Auditing Standard (AS) No.18, Related Parties, will supersede an interim auditing standard and is effective for fiscal year beginning on or after December 15, 2014. The PCAOB noticed the existing standard provided example of procedures an auditor could perform but...
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...those procedures are intended to provide substantive evidence is provided by the reorganized Audit Standard 2305 Substantive Analytical Procedures effective December 31, 2016 in the following list: a. “Analytical procedures are an important part of the audit process and consist of evaluations of financial information made by a study of plausible relationships among both financial and nonfinancial data. Analytical procedures range from simple comparisons to the use of complex models involving many relationships and elements of data. A basic premise underlying the application of analytical procedures is that plausible relationships among data may reasonably be expected to exist and continue in the absence of known conditions to the contrary. Particular conditions that can cause variations in these relationships include, for example, specific unusual transactions or events, accounting changes, business changes, random fluctuations, or misstatements (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, AS 2305.02).” b. “Analytical procedures are used as a substantive test to obtain evidential matter about particular assertions related to account balances or classes of transactions. In some cases, analytical procedures can be more effective or efficient than tests of details for achieving particular substantive testing objectives (PCAOB, AS 2305.04).” c. “Analytical procedures involve comparisons of recorded amounts, or ratios developed from recorded amounts, to expectations...
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...Accounting Information Systems Research Paper Abstract The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was enacted into law in 2002 in the wake of corporation financial reporting scandals involving large publicly held companies. SOX instituted new strict financial regulations with the intent of improving accounting practices and protecting investors from corporate misconduct. SOX requires corporate executives to vouch for the accuracy of financial statements, and to institute and monitor effective internal controls over financial reporting. The cost of implementing an effective internal control structure are onerous, and SOX inflicts opportunity costs upon an enterprise as executives have become more risk adverse due to fears of incrimination. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) was created by SOX to oversee the accounting process and dictate independence requirements for auditors and auditing committees. The PCAOB proposed regulations must be approved by the SEC before they are enacted. Since the passage of SOX, the IT department has become critical in designing and implementing the internal controls in company accounting information systems. The Information Technology Governance Institute (ITGI) created a framework called Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) to provide guidance for companies to implement and monitor IT governance. Accounting Information Systems Research Paper The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 changed the...
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...Accounting Information Systems Research Paper Abstract The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was enacted into law in 2002 in the wake of corporation financial reporting scandals involving large publicly held companies. SOX instituted new strict financial regulations with the intent of improving accounting practices and protecting investors from corporate misconduct. SOX requires corporate executives to vouch for the accuracy of financial statements, and to institute and monitor effective internal controls over financial reporting. The cost of implementing an effective internal control structure are onerous, and SOX inflicts opportunity costs upon an enterprise as executives have become more risk adverse due to fears of incrimination. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) was created by SOX to oversee the accounting process and dictate independence requirements for auditors and auditing committees. The PCAOB proposed regulations must be approved by the SEC before they are enacted. Since the passage of SOX, the IT department has become critical in designing and implementing the internal controls in company accounting information systems. The Information Technology Governance Institute (ITGI) created a framework called Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) to provide guidance for companies to implement and monitor IT governance. Accounting Information Systems Research Paper The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 changed the...
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...Case Study 2: A Practical Guide to the New PCAOB Reporting Requirements Forensic Accounting: ACC-571 January 28, 2012 A Practical Guide to the New PCAOB Reporting Requirements Created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board or PCAOB requires auditors of U.S. public companies be subject to external and independent oversight. Congress established the PCAOB in order to protect investors and the public interest by promoting accurate, informative, and independent audit reports. The PCAOB aims to improve audit quality, reduce the risks of auditing failures in the U.S. public securities market and promote public trust in both the financial reporting process and auditing profession. (PCAOB, 2012). During this case study I will justify how the reporting requirements of the PCAOB reduce the chance of financial fraud, illustrate the responsibilities of an auditing firm to detect fraud during the audit process, recommend alternatives to the PCAOB, and lastly prepare a sample timeline for PCAOB reporting. How the reporting requirements of the PCAOB reduce the chance of financial fraud: PCAOB necessitate senior financial managers to enforce a code of conduct (Advisory Report, 2003). The purpose of the code of conduct is to encourage honesty and ethical conduct, compliance to relevant regulations, and also promote full, accurate and timely disclosure in financial reports. As a result, the PCAOB reduces chances of financial fraud by ensuring...
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...changes to the estimated useful lives and/or salvage values of one or more categories of vehicles, containers and equipment. Such changes reduced the amount of depreciation expense recorded in a particular period. An entry that may have been use by Waste Management for fraud would be a debit to the accumulated depreciation and a credit to the depreciation expense. 3. Paragraph 2 of PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 5 states “effective internal control over financial reporting provides reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes. 3/ If one or more material weaknesses exist, the company's internal control over financial reporting cannot be considered effective. 4/” Waste Management did not have an effective system of internal control over financial reporting related to the depreciation expense recorded in its financial statements. Reason being because thy most often made improper transactions during the fourth quarter in violation of the expense recognition rule. 4. After consulting paragraphs 5-6 of PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 15 the type of...
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...Role and function of the PCAOB and AS 5 and AS 11 Ramecha Davis This paper is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Auditing BUS5423 Section 70 Texas Woman’s University Dr. John Nugent April 20, 2015 Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to provide an in depth review of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and how it contributes to the interest of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. The research highlights the importance of the PCAOB’s role in the accounting profession as well as prospective changes that may evolve in the future related to PCAOB. Upon reading this research the reader will be familiar with PCAOB’s roles and functions, as well as auditing standards (AS) released such as AS5 and AS11. The PCAOB’s significance in the protection of investors is revealed as well. Keywords: SEC, PCAOB, SOX, AS 5, AS 11, Internal Control, Materiality Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………….5 PCAOB…………….……………………………………..……………………………….……….……5-6 a) The PCAOB Mission, Vision, & Core Values………………………………….………........6-7 b) Current Standards…………………………………………………………….…..............…7-8 c) Future Standard Plans…………………………………………………………………….…8-9 Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 Section 404……………………………………………………………...….9 a) Auditing Standard 5…………………………………………………………………….….9-10 b) Auditing Standard 11……………………………………………………………………..10-12 c) Communication Requirements..............................
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...indices were making a new history against over publicized corporate scandals, bankruptcy and accounting misstatements, the new legislation “The Public Committee Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002” widely known as Sarbanes Oxley Act was passed by the congress in response to investment company abuses. On the article, “The goals and the promises of Sarbanes-Oxley Act”; John C. Coates, professor of Harvard law & economics school analyzed the pre and post Sarbanes Oxley era and the pros and cons of the SOX legislation. In addition, he recommended that by reconstituting governance and accountability of PCAOB, implication of Sarbanes Oxley can be more effective to safeguard net long term socioeconomic market gain. While discussing about the enforcement in pre Sarbanes Oxley era, Coates pointed out the previous laws and regulations lacked effective implementation of corporate governance. With the threat of systematic corporate misstatements, frauds and rise in significant class action suits, in the pre SOX era investors’ confidence were dramatically declining. As in such scenarios in last decade, Coats describe the core goals on which SOX were formed. First, on its core, “SOX legislation was designed to fix the auditing of U.S public companies.” Second, Sarbanes Oxley was predominantly designed to regulate the “deprofessionalization” of auditors as there was significant number of audit failure by top audit firms.[Coates 93, 2007] He marked several reasons behind...
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...Abstract This paper discusses the role and function of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and Auditing Standard 5 (AS 5). Due to the increased demand for oversight in auditing standards, this paper also examines the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and the reasons for the creation of the PCAOB, as well as the implementation of the rules and regulations. Additionally, this paper examines the impact of AS 5. Keywords: audit, AS 5, financial statements, PCAOB, SEC, SOX Table of Contents Introduction ………….……………………………………………………..……………………4 Scandals ...…..……………………………………...……………………………………………4 PCAOB Mission and Vision …………………… ……………………………………………….5 Structure ………………………….……………..……………………………………………5, 6 PCAOB's Objective….…….……..…………………………………………………………….6, 7 Duties ………………………….…..………………………………………………….……… 7, 8 Standard Setting………..………………………………………………………………..……..…8 Inspection ………………………………………………………………………………………..8 Enforcement…………..………………………………………………………………..……...8, 9 AS5 .…………………….…………………………………………………...…………….…9, 10 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….....……. 10 References …………………………………………………………………………………….. 11 History of PCAOB …………………………………………………………………… 13-19 Introduction Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) was passed in 2002 and as a result brought numerous changes to auditing. The Sarbanes-Oxley was passed in direct response to business failures, allegations of corporate improprieties and financial statement restatements. Prior to the SOX passage, auditors used a...
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...investors. It is important to note that the business environment in today’s world require the investors to make proper decisions so as to survive in the current competitive global market. The process of making decisions governed by various ethical attributes key among them being integrity, transparency, and accountability. Ethical Decision The SOX Act has the effect of ensuring that investors’ confidence improves through the existence of regulatory provisions that are effective in enhancing ethical standards. “The Supreme Court must determine if the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 violates the Constitution’s separation of powers framework by assigning too much power to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board without providing any residual control power to the President to supervise the Board” (Balasanian & Chu, 2009). The ruling in the case of Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) shows the extent to which the issue of separation of powers upheld (PCAOB, 2010). The main argument in the case was the excess power presented to the board of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), other than the President. This means that the board had a lot of controlling power...
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...1666 K Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20006 Telephone: (202) 207-9100 Facsimile: (202) 862-8430 www.pcaobus.org ) CONCEPT RELEASE ON AUDITOR ) INDEPENDENCE AND AUDIT FIRM ) ROTATION; ) ) NOTICE OF ROUNDTABLE ) ) PCAOB Release No. 2011-006 August 16, 2011 PCAOB Rulemaking Docket Matter No. 37 Summary: The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB" or "Board") is issuing a concept release to solicit public comment on ways that auditor independence, objectivity and professional skepticism could be enhanced. One possible approach on which the Board is seeking comment is mandatory audit firm rotation, which is explored in detail in this release. However, the Board seeks advice and comment on other approaches as well. The Board will also convene a public roundtable meeting in March 2012, at which interested persons will present their views. Additional details about the roundtable will be announced at a later date. Public Comment: Interested persons may submit written comments to the Board. Such comments should be sent to the Office of the Secretary, PCAOB, 1666 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006-2803. Comments also may be submitted by e-mail to comments@pcaobus.org or through the Board's Web site at www.pcaobus.org. All comments should refer to PCAOB Rulemaking Docket Matter No. 37 in the subject or reference line. Comments should be received by the Board no later than 5:00 PM EST on December 14, 2011. Board Contacts: Martin F. Baumann, Chief Auditor and...
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...auditors. Auditors by trade serve in the public and stockholders interest. Furthermore, the independence of auditors is essential in performing their duties properly. As a result, which practices are needed to achieve total independence? Moreover, how do we weigh the cost of financial misstatements with the cost of redundancy due to rotation of audit firms? Demanding public companies to rotate their audit firms may appear reasonable on paper, however, this rotation brings more concerns than answers. Currently in the auditing of publicly held companies, lead audit partners are required to rotate of audits every five years. This ruling was enacted from the Sarbanes- Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). Also, SOX requires a 1-year cooling off period if the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), controller, etc. was previously employed by and participated in the audit one year prior to the start of the audit. These laws were passed to promote auditor independence, yet some professionals argue this may not be enough. In 2012, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) investigated the concept of requiring United States public companies to change their auditors every few years. This concept was never passed however the PCAOB encountered numerous backlashes from CFOs of publicly traded companies in the U.S.. In October...
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...Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board or PCAOB requires auditors of U.S. public companies be subject to external and independent oversight. As well as a “provision requiring auditors to evaluate the effectiveness of companies’ audit committees” (Sharp Paine & Eric Bettcher, 2006). On October 2002 there were four appointed members and two of them were Goelzer and Charles D. Niemeier who were both accountants that had served at the SEC (Sharp Paine & Eric Bettcher, 2006). Other two were Bill Gradison who was a former congressman, mayor, and businessman; and Gillan who was general counsel at California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). All four of these new members have had extensive law experience. Identify Strengths and Weaknesses and Alternatives: The first thing that the board needed to do was set up offices and recruiting staff. Since there was no staff at first the board members took it among themselves to identify, interview, and hire new staff. A few of these new staff members included a director of registration and inspection as well as a director of human resources. In April of 2003 PCAOB received an official certification from SEC at which time there were about 30 employees with this organization. PCAOB was established by Congress in order to protect investors and the public interest by promoting accurate, informative, and independent audit reports. The PCAOB aims to improve audit quality, reduce the risks of auditing failures...
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...How is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act likely to affect the accuracy of public company financial statements and the cost of capital for public companies? SOX The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was signed into law in 2002 by President Bush. The law was put in place to increase corporate responsibility and enhance financial disclosures; therefore, reducing and preventing accounting fraud. SOX also created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). What is PCAOB? PCAOB oversee activities that take place in the profession of auditing. This corporation protects investors as well as those of the public. PCAOB assures that the preparation of information is true and accurate. They also micromanage audits from broker-dealers, including compliance reports filed in accordance to federal security laws; which also promotes investor protection. 103 Regulation of Audit Firms Section 103 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 charges the PCAOB with creating auditing and other related standards for registered public accounting firms when preparing audits. It also authorizes the Board to create any rules it deems necessary to ensure auditor independence. Section 103 also requires the Board to create expert advisory groups so as to help in setting these standards and help in creating the process and procedures used to create the standards. The Board has convened a Standing Advisory Group (SAG) which advises the Board on the establishment of auditing and related professional practice standards...
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