PCAOB Audit Quality Indicator (AQI) Exposure Draft – SVA Response

Note: You can read our entire comment letter to the PCAOB on the Audit Quality Indicator Exposure draft The PCAOB recently released an exposure draft for a set of proposed Audit Quality Indicators.    In releasing the exposure draft for comment, the Board stated the following goals: The goal of the AQI project is to improve …

Forbes: No Single Close Technology is a Panacea

Writing in Forbes,  Jay Humphries notes that “The pressure for an accelerated accounting close can be relentless”.    We agree, and have seen this pressure through industry.  In addition, Humphries notes that while technology can help to overcome some challenges, by itself, it is an incomplete approach, and that “A successful, holistic approach must account for …

Audit Fees Rise Again in 2014 – Do They Ever Go Down?

Jason Bramwell at AccountingWeb reports on the Annual Audit Fee Survey from  Financial Executives Research Foundation . Among the key findings: Audit fees paid by SEC filers last year averaged $1.5 million Nearly 21 percent of SEC filers reported ineffective internal controls over financial reporting Public companies as a whole realized a 3.1 percent median increase …

FASB Exposure Draft – Materiality –

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is seeking input on a recently released an exposure draft of proposed changes to chapter 3 of the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting.  The proposed changes effect the concept of materiality. There are a number of changes, but the most significant is that the board acknowledges that in the United …

IIA Review the Three Lines of Defense

The “Three Lines of Defense” model is widely used throughout industry as a framework for addressing risks in today’s increasingly complex world.  Originally proposed in a position paper from the Institute of Internal Auditors in 2013, the model proposes a “streamlined approach to risk management and control built on three layers — operational management, risk …

IIA Internal Audit Stakeholder Survey

The Institute of Internal Auditors is seeking the input of audit stakeholders, board members and C-Suite executives for their Internal Audit Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) stakeholder survey. The purpose of this phase of the study is to gain a global perspective and better understanding of stakeholder expectations of internal audit’s purpose, function, and performance. …