PCAOB Publishes New Edition of Data Points on Financial Restatements and Auditor Turnover

Today, the PCAOB released a new edition of Data Points: “Financial Restatements and Auditor Turnover.”

From 2005 to 2024, Big R financial restatements occurred at a rate of around 3% per year. (A Big R restatement refers to a restatement disclosed in an SEC Form 8-K, Item 4.02.) On average, just under 30% of these restatements followed an auditor change in the previous year. As a point of reference, the average annual auditor-change rate across the broader population, which includes companies without Big R restatements, was 11%.

Prepared by the PCAOB’s the Office of Economic and Risk Analysis (OERA), the Data Points series presents concise, data-driven insights relevant to audits. Each edition of Data Points offer neutral, factual information drawn from PCAOB datasets and other available sources.

Visit the Data Points page to find all editions in the series.

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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.