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This Year’s Audits According to the Pcaob!

As part of Internal Audit Awareness month, we’re excited to highlight another aspect of the auditing world with some intriguing updates, The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

Last week at a conference in New York City, PCAOB board member Jeanette Franzel discussed how the non-profit is seeing definitive signs of progress in both the quality and efficiency of audits over the past two years. According to Franzel, organizations are dedicating significantly more resources toward remediating deficiencies, improving quality controls, and coaching audit teams on the importance of quality.

While automation software like ART has helped many, the PCAOB has also encouraged firms to use audit quality indicators proposed in 2015. Although these are not mandatory, the board does monitor the use of such indicators by firms, audit committees, and audit regulators, and has seen an upward trend over time.

Franzel also noted the inherent shift and focus toward automation, enhanced technology, and perhaps even artificial intelligence.

“These potentially disruptive changes will present challenges and threats across the auditing profession, including the need for significant investments in technology, new management and technical skills, and even new firm business and organizational models,” Franzel said. “If managed and implemented properly, these developments have the potential to enhance the value of the audit process and increase audit quality,” she continued.

Overall, Franzel reported positive feedback and a step in the right direction for audit firms, but also highlighted several problems that still remain. She explained that some firms need “significant improvement” while others are “serious outliers”; most notably, global networks and cross-border audits that often result in significant deficiencies and risks to audit quality.

For more information about International Audit Awareness month, and what you can expect from your audit team, read our blog here.

And if you and your team would like to see improvements in your audit quality and internal controls, ART is the solution for you. SkyStem’s cloud-based software helps both small and large firms manage the month-end close and reconciliation process while ensuring compliance every step of the way. Schedule a demo of our software here or read our customer success stories here.

By |2023-03-10T20:36:58+00:00May 11th, 2017|Blog|0 Comments
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