[The following paragraph was amended by the Board in PCAOB Release 2008-001 (January 29, 2008), effective November 15, 2008.

Return to the current version.]

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Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 20, Accounting Changes, paragraph 16 [AC section A06.112], states: "The presumption that an entity should not change an accounting principle may be overcome only if the enterprise justifies the use of an alternative acceptable accounting principle on the basis that it is preferable." If management has not provided reasonable justification for the change in accounting principles, the auditor should express an exception to the change having been made without reasonable justification. An example of a report qualified for this reason follows:

Independent Auditor's Report

[Same first and second paragraphs as the standard report]

As disclosed in Note X to the financial statements, the Company adopted, in 20X2, the first-in, first-out method of accounting for its inventories, whereas it previously used the last-in, first-out method. Although use of the first-in, first-out method is in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, in our opinion the Company has not provided reasonable justification for making this change as required by those principles. fn 17

In our opinion, except for the change in accounting principle discussed in the preceding paragraph, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of X Company as of December 31, 20X2 and 20X1, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

[Paragraph renumbered by the issuance of Statement on Auditing Standards No. 79, December 1995.]

Footnotes (AU Section 508 — Reports on Audited Financial Statements):

fn 17 Section 420, Consistency of Application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, states that a change from an accounting principle that is not generally accepted to one that is generally accepted is a correction of an error and that such a change requires recognition in the auditor's report as to consistency. Therefore, the auditor should add an explanatory paragraph to the report discussing the accounting change. However, because the middle paragraph included in the example presented contains all of the information required in an explanatory paragraph on consistency, a separate explanatory paragraph (following the opinion paragraph) as required by paragraphs .16 through .18 of this section is not necessary in this instance. A separate paragraph that identifies the change in accounting principle would be required if the substance of the disclosure did not fulfill the requirements outlined in these paragraphs. [Footnote renumbered by the issuance of Statement on Auditing Standards No. 79, December 1995. Footnote subsequently renumbered by the issuance of Statement on Auditing Standards No. 93, October 2000.]