[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.]

.40       Due professional care concerns what the practitioner does and how well the practitioner does it. Due professional care means acting with reasonable care and diligence; exercising professional skepticism;fn 7A acting with integrity; and complying with applicable professional and legal requirements.fn 7B The exercise of due professional care requires critical review at every level of supervision of the work done and the judgment exercised by those assisting in the engagement, including the preparation of the report.

fn 7A      Professional skepticism is an attitude that includes a questioning mind and a critical assessment of information related to the audit. See paragraph .11 of AS 1000 for further discussion of the concept of professional skepticism.

fn 7B      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.