PCAOB Forums for Auditors of Smaller Businesses and Broker-Dealers Reflect Renewed Focus on Outreach to Smaller Audit Firms

With the fourth of its 2024 Forums on Auditing in the Small Business Environment and on Auditing Broker-Dealers taking place in Jersey City today, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has concluded its run of forum events planned for this year. To date in 2024, this series of in-person forums – each of which was hosted by a PCAOB Board Member – has enabled the PCAOB to engage with hundreds of participants face-to-face and online.

“Auditors of smaller businesses and broker-dealers play an essential role in the U.S. economy and capital markets, which is why the PCAOB is focused on helping these auditors play that role to the best of their ability for the benefit of investors,” said PCAOB Chair Erica Y. Williams. “We thank all those who participated in our successful forum series this year, and we look forward to continued engagement.”

Tailored to address PCAOB-registered firms auditing smaller public companies or broker-dealers, the forums have provided a unique opportunity for audit firms to engage with representatives from the PCAOB and other regulators in an interactive setting. The events were held in 2024 in the following locations:

• Chicago, May 22, hosted by Chair Williams
• Los Angeles, June 5, hosted by Board Member George R. Botic
• Denver, September 12, hosted by Board Member Kara M. Stein
• Jersey City, November 20, hosted by Board Member Anthony C. Thompson.

An in-person forum in Miami, hosted by Board Member Christina Ho, was scheduled for October 9, 2024, but was disrupted by Hurricane Milton. The event has been rescheduled for March 18, 2025.

Forums Complement Other PCAOB Initiatives To Support Smaller Firms

The PCAOB defines “smaller firms” as those that issue audit reports or that play a substantial role in the audits of 100 or fewer public companies. Today, more than 500 such firms either audit or play a substantial role in the audits of over 3,200 public companies.

Beyond the knowledge-sharing and engagement at the 2024 forums, the PCAOB has advanced other initiatives to support smaller firms, including the following:

• Adopting standards and rules designed to be scalable: The PCAOB has continued its efforts to ensure its rules and standards are scalable for firms of all sizes, including taking into account the date for when the new requirements become effective. Examples include the PCAOB’s new quality control standard, which balances new requirements with a risk-based approach that enables flexibility, and the new auditing standard on General Responsibilities of the Auditor in Conducting an Audit, which takes a phased-in approach for certain requirements to allow smaller firms more time to adjust.
• Sharing more insights from PCAOB inspections: A key strategic objective for the PCAOB is to publish Spotlight reports and other materials that describe observations from our inspections, including areas of common deficiencies, emerging risks and trends, as well as good practices implemented by some firms. Since 2022, the PCAOB has more than doubled the number of Spotlight publications issued annually.
• Launching the Audit Focus series of publications: Launched in November 2024, Audit Focus is a series of PCAOB staff publications that aims to provide succinct, easy-to-digest information to auditors, especially those who audit smaller public companies. Each edition of Audit Focus reiterates the applicable auditing standards and staff guidance and offers reminders and good practices tailored to PCAOB-registered auditors of smaller public companies.

To stay abreast of forthcoming events and resources from the PCAOB, auditors at firms of all sizes are encouraged to join our Communications to Auditors mailing list and to visit our Staff Publications resource page.

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About the PCAOB

The PCAOB is a nonprofit corporation established by Congress to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, accurate, and independent audit reports. The PCAOB also oversees the audits of brokers and dealers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including compliance reports filed pursuant to federal securities laws.

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