Feedback from stakeholders on proposed audit quality standards

Abstract

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) established audit quality control standards to ensure that audit engagements comply with both professional standards and the firm’s standard of quality. However, existing standards have not kept pace with auditing advancements over the years. To remedy the problem, in December 2019, the PCAOB issued a concept release proposing a potential approach to revising its quality control standards. Similarly, in February 2021, the AICPA issued an exposure draft to address the way CPA firms manage quality for their auditing and accounting engagements. This paper provides an overview of both proposals and analyzes comment letters submitted to both governing bodies on these proposals. Our results suggest that large CPA firms supported the proposals, while smaller firms and individual CPAs opposed them. The feedback from smaller firms and individual CPAs strongly suggests that the proposals are not scalable, and the proposed standards would significantly increase the cost of their audit engagements.