Recently, the PCAOB has announced a number of measures directed toward its standard setting process and research agenda, the application and implementation of audit standards and the inspection process. The PCAOB has also seen changes in personnel in key positions in recent weeks.

Last week, the PCAOB announced that it had named the members of its Inspections Modernization Council. As noted in the announcement, the Inspections Modernization Council is “[a] resource group composed of outside parties with a stake in the PCAOB’s inspection activities, [and] the IMC will provide perspectives to inform the PCAOB’s efforts to modernize its inspection program and thereby improve audit quality.” The Council will consider the content of inspection reports, the impact of technology on inspections and a focus on the inspection of a firm’s systems of quality control. The members of the Council include representatives from accounting firms, companies, investment firms, consulting firms, academia and COSO.

The PCAOB also recently announced the establishment of a Firm Consultation Process, which is “designed to provide more timely and consistent guidance from PCAOB staff. The new process will allow registered public accounting firms to submit questions directly to OCA staff and receive informal staff views regarding the implementation of new standards and application of existing standards.” The PCAOB does not plan to make consultation requests public, but the Office of the Chief Auditor may publish public guidance for “questions that are frequently asked or may be of use more generally.”

Further in the spirit of consultation, in late June the PCAOB announced that it had opened a public comment period or stakeholders to provide input on potential future areas of focus for standard setting. In addition, the PCAOB is seeking feedback on “revisiting its general approach to standard setting and considering the potential impact of the recent SEC proposal regarding semiannual reporting on the PCAOB’s suite of standards.”

On the personnel front, the PCAOB recently announced that its Chief Auditor will leave the SEC after 17 years of service. The PCAOB also announced the appointment of a General Counsel, Chief Economist and Director of its Office of Economic and Risk Analysis and a Director of the Division of Enforcement and Investigations.

– Dave Lynn