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SubscribePCAOB Issues Six Largest U.S. Firm Inspection Reports in New User-Friendly Format, Guide to Reading Reports
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) today issued the 2018 inspection reports for the six largest U.S. audit firms in a new, redesigned format. The new format marks the first time the PCAOB has substantially changed its reports since the Board first issued a report more than fifteen years ago.
“One of the Board’s top strategic priorities over the past two years has been to communicate more effectively with investors, audit committees, and other key stakeholders,” said Chairman William D. Duhnke III. “Our inspection reports are one of the primary ways we communicate with the public about our oversight activities, and we have heard time and again through our external engagement that the reports can be improved. We are pleased to share our new report with the public, and look forward to hearing feedback.”
The PCAOB’s new inspection report format streamlines the report’s content to enhance readability and utilizes new charts and graphs to make the information more digestible and accessible for users. It also includes new information not previously communicated in inspection reports to enhance transparency, which is one of the Board’s strategic goals. To further detail the key changes to the report and assist stakeholders in reading it, the PCAOB has issued a Guide to Reading the PCAOB’s New Inspection Report. This guide also solicits public feedback on our new report format.
In addition to the six reports issued today, reports for other annually inspected firms will adhere to this new format. All triennially inspected firms’ reports, beginning with the 2019 inspection reports, will utilize a similar format, but may not include all of the same data as the annually inspected firms’ reports due to the frequency of our inspections and the size and nature of those firms.
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