[The following paragraph is effective for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2024. See PCAOB Release No. 2024-004. The paragraph effective for fiscal years beginning before December 15, 2024 can be found here.]

6.       An auditor who performs an examination engagement pursuant to this standard must:

  1. Have competence in attestation engagements;10A
  2. Obtain an understanding of the financial responsibility rules and other rules and regulations that are relevant to the broker's or dealer's assertions;
  3. Determine the auditor's compliance with independence and ethics requirements; and
  4. Exercise due professional care, including the application of professional skepticism,11/ in planning and performing the examination and the preparation of the report. 

Note: Due professional care imposes a responsibility on each engagement team11A/ member to comply with this standard. The exercise of due professional care requires critical review at every level of supervision of the work done and the judgment11B/ exercised by those assisting in the engagement, including preparing the report. Due professional care concerns what the auditor does and how well the auditor does it. Due professional care means acting with reasonable care and diligence; exercising professional skepticism; acting with integrity; and complying with applicable professional and legal requirements.11C/

Note: AS 1215, Audit Documentation, establishes the documentation requirements for examination engagements performed pursuant to this standard.

10A/See paragraph .07 of AS 1000, General Responsibilities of the Auditor in Conducting an Audit, for a description of competence.

11/Professional skepticism is an attitude that includes a questioning mind and a critical assessment of audit evidence and other information that is obtained to comply with PCAOB standards and rules. See paragraph .11 of AS 1000 for further discussion of the concept of professional skepticism.

11A/The term “engagement team,” as used in this standard for examination engagements, has a meaning analogous to the term’s definition in Appendix A of AS 2101, Audit Planning, for audit engagements.

11B/Reference to the judgment of the practitioner throughout this standard has the same meaning as “professional judgment” as described in AS 1000.

11C/The term “applicable professional and legal requirements,” as used in this standard, has the same meaning as defined in Appendix A of AS 1000, which includes professional standards as defined in PCAOB Rule 1001(p)(vi) (i.e., certain accounting principles and other standards) and rules of the PCAOB that are not professional standards. This definition also includes statutes with which the auditor is required to comply. See, e.g., Section 10A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j-1.