New PCAOB Publication Aims To Help Auditors Get Form AP Right

Today, the PCAOB released a staff publication, “Audit Focus: Form AP.”

For each audit report that they issue for a public company, PCAOB-registered audit firms are required to file a Form AP. Through this form, audit firms disclose key information specific to the audit, such as the engagement partner responsible for the audit, details about the audit report, and the participation of other accounting firms in the audit. These disclosures help investors, audit committees, and other stakeholders to understand exactly who has participated in the audits of public companies and how work is distributed among those participants.

PCAOB staff continues to identify a large number of deficiencies related to auditors’ Form AP filings. The deficiencies include, among others, inaccurately reporting whether another accounting firm contributed 5% or more of total audit hours, omitting or incorrectly reporting the percentage of total audit hours contributed by a firm, or providing the incorrect date of the audit report.

This edition of Audit Focus shares:

• Key reminders for auditors from the PCAOB rules, standards, and staff guidance related to Form AP;
• Staff’s perspectives on common deficiencies; and
• Good practices that the staff has observed, such as the use of structured templates, guidance on how to complete the templates, or policies mandating review of Form AP information to ensure accuracy and completeness.

About Audit Focus

Audit Focus is a series of PCAOB publications that aims to provide easy-to-digest information to auditors, especially those who audit smaller public companies. Each edition of Audit Focus reiterates the applicable auditing standards and/or staff guidance, as well as offers reminders and good practices tailored to PCAOB-registered auditors of smaller public companies – all with an eye toward protecting investors and improving audit quality. Previous editions of Audit Focus can be found at the PCAOB’s Staff Publications page.