The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

In general, the main criticisms of the PCAOB are that it has not made sufficient it’s regulatory power, it is slow to act in its investigations of enforcement cases, and that it targets enforcement on smaller firms in order to protect the Big 4 firms, which are regarded as “too big to fail.” While I do not disagree with the fact that the PCAOB is slow and has not produced a significant amount of regulation, I do disagree with the criticism of the PCAOB as a regulatory body in general. I feel that certain members of the public desire absolute transparency in financial reporting, but do not understand the economy required to so. It is nearly impossible, not to mention impractical, to breakdown every aspect of a multi-billion dollar corporation to ensure that every transaction is accounted for

The profession of accounting is a one that is highly regulated, due to the knowledge and power each accountant possesses. Although an accountants duties differ from one position to the next, the main sectors that accountants pursue are auditing or taxation. Auditing is ensuring the public that the information listed on the financial statements of public companies is free of material misstatements. While taxation is helping people or companies file their tax returns to the federal government or offering tax advice. In the world of auditing, you either follow the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), for public company audits, or the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), for other entities

3 – Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) (source: PYP7-6 Kimmel textbook.) The PCAOB was created as a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It has oversight and enforcement responsibilities over CPA firms in the United States.

In general, the main criticisms of the PCAOB are that it has not made sufficient it’s regulatory power, it is slow to act in its investigations of enforcement cases, and that it targets enforcement on smaller firms in order to protect the Big 4 firms, which are regarded as “too big to fail.” While I do not

First, Congress saw the need to create an independent body to oversee the audit of public companies that are subject to the securities laws. PCAOB was established to protect the investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, accurate, and independent audit reports for public companies. Before the SOX, The

The PCAOB is responsible for providing independent oversight for public accounting firms. Auditors independence job is to limit conflict of interest and monitor the requirements of new auditor approvals. Corporate responsibility require that senior executives take sole responsibility for completeness and accuracy of all corporate financial reports. Last but not least, enhance financial disclosures assures the accuracy of financial reports and

Before the Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB ruling, there was a double for cause removal system. The PCAOB board members and SEC commissioners were only able to be removed from their positions if there was “for cause” rationale. This rationale stated that they could only be removed for inefficiency, neglect of duties or malfeasance in office. This allowed the PCAOB board members to be independent of the SEC. This independence and job security allowed them to regulate public accounting firms without fear of retaliation.

The act is an exhaustive piece of legislation that contains eleven major section and some of the most important titles outline requirements on auditor independence, analyst conflict of interests, corporate responsibility, enhanced financial disclosures, internal controls assessment, and corporate fraud accountability (Bainbridge, 2007). One of the main benefits of the legislation is to establish auditor independence requirements and rules for the prevention of conflicts of interest in particular by prohibiting auditing firms from offering other services. Prior to Sarbanes–Oxley, the auditing professionals were self-regulated and the decisions that controlled the industry, such as violation of ethical standards, were made largely by auditors themselves (Verschoor, 2012). In order to prevent conflict of interests, the Sarbanes–Oxley Act grants the PCAOB authority to oversee and regulate auditing firms, conduct investigations, and impose disciplinary sanctions against accounting firms (McDonough, 2004). Another provision of the Act is requiring senior executives to be personally accountable and responsible for the financial information reports by certifying that the information is correct.(Welch, 2006). A byproduct of the law implementation is a significant quality improvement on accounting practices;

Title I of the SOX comprises the creation of the Public Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) (Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 2002). The PCAOB is a private-sector, nonprofit corporation which oversees the auditors of public companies. It is to protect the interests of the investors and to further the public interest when preparing informative, fair, and independent audit reports. The title consists of 9 subsections. Section 101 describes the establishment of PCAOB, which consists of 5 full time members, 2 of which are CPAs, all selected by the SEC (Philipp, CPA, & CGMA, 2014). Section 102 states that public accounting firms are required to register with the PCAOB in order to issue or prepare in the issuance of an audit report to an issuer (Philipp, CPA,

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has many provisions. A few of the major provisions include the creation of the Public Company Oversight Board (PCAOB), Section 201, 203, 204, 302, 404, 809, 902, and 906. The PCAOB was the first true oversight of the accounting industry. It oversees and creates regulations, and it will monitor and investigate audits and auditors of public companies. The PCAOB has the authority to sanction firms and individuals for violations of laws, regulations, and rules. Section 302 requires the CEO and CFO to certify that they reviewed the financial statements, and that they are presented fairly. Section 404 requires management to state whether internal control procedures are adequate and effective, and requires an auditor to attest to the accuracy of the statement. Section 902 states that “It is a crime for any person to corruptly alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal any document with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official

On July 30, 2002, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was signed into law by President Bush. "The Act mandated some reforms to enhance corporate responsibility, enhance financial disclosures and combat corporate and accounting fraud" (SEC.Gov. 2013 P. 1). The SOX Act also created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in response to numerous failures of the profession to fulfill its trusted role; to oversee the activities of the auditing profession (SEC.Gov, 2013. The auditing of financial statements is required for the protection of public investors; however the question that arises is whether or not all PCAOB members should be taken from the investments communities that use audited financial statements. The remaining of this

The PCAOB gives a new meaning to the public accounting industry. The board must be composed of five members, appointed for a 5-year term, two of which are Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) or have previously been CPAs, and three of which have never been CPAs. The chair of the PCAOB may be a CPA, but only if he has been out of practice for at least five years. "The members must be independent of the accounting profession as no member may, concurrent with service on the board, share in any of the profits of, or receive payments from, a public accounting firm, other than fixed payment such as retirement payments" (4). All members of the PCAOB must be appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The board performs various jobs which include: "oversee the audit of public companies, establish audit report standards and rules, inspect, investigate and enforce compliance on the part of registered public accounting firms and those associated with the firms" (4). Not only do public accounting firms who audit the financial reports of public companies have to register with the PCAOB, but foreign public accounting firms must register as well. The standards of auditing include:

For nonpublic companies auditing guidance are issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, AICPA. Prior to PCAOB, AICPA served as the primary governing body of public accounting profession. Since the roles have changed with PCAOB regarding the auditing standards for public companies, the AICPA is still developing standards for the nonpublic companies. The organization has developed four fundamental principles that govern an audit conducted in accordance with GAAP. The principles are:

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued for public comment two Exposure Drafts related to its disclosure framework project. The first exposure draft proposes amendments to Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts - Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, Chapter 3 – Qualitative Characteristics of Useful Financial Information. The purpose of this proposed amendment is to clarify the concept of “materiality”. FASB defines materiality as, information is material if omitting it or misstating it could influence decisions that users make on the basis of the financial information of a specific reporting entity. In other words, materiality is an entity-specific aspect of relevance based on the nature or magnitude or both of the items to which the information relates in the context of an individual entity’s financial report. Consequently, the Board cannot specify a uniform quantitative threshold for materiality or predetermine what could be material in a particular situation.

These changes were outlined in the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). SOX completely revolutionized financial reporting, requiring senior management of firms to sign off on each financial statement that the company issues. It also stipulated that wrongful doing can result in not only termination but also imprisonment. SOX amplified the requirement for companies, requiring firms to maintain proper levels of internal controls when it comes to operating activities. SOX also established the creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) which implemented stricter auditing standards for public accounting firms. Not only were accounting firms required to consider internal controls, but they were also required report any significant deficiency directly to the board of directors. SOX stressed the importance of internal controls, and within internal controls it established the need for segregation of duties. Since this time, there have been many additions to accounting policies regards segregations of duties, and many functions of the business process dedicated to it.