American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)

¶ … American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) pioneered and mulled over a set of standards for auditing professionals. These eventually became recognized as the 10 generally accepted auditing standards. The 10 generally accepted auditing standards fall under three main categories:

General standards -- Audits must be executed by a qualified and adept auditor.

All matters relating to the project should be addressed with autonomy in mental attitude.

Professional care is to be exercised at all times.

Field work Standards -- work is to be sufficiently planned and appropriately managed.

To evaluate the risk of substantive misstatements, a satisfactory understanding of the entity is essential. knowledgeable auditing skills must be demonstrated through auditing measures performed to afford a reasonable basis for an opinion.

Reporting Standards -- Report whether the financial statements are presented in harmony with generally accepted accounting principles. Report the conditions in which principles have not been consistently observed in the current period. Informative disclosures in the financial statements are to be reasonably sufficient. Report an expression or opinion regarding financial statements.

Financial statement audits are executed in synchronization with GAAP and other established criteria when obtaining confirmation of a company's presentation of its financial situation. Verification of the evidence evaluated includes results of operations and cash flows for the purpose of conveying an opinion for users of the financial data. A majority of states have passed laws so that only certified public accountants can complete financial statement audits.

An operational audit evaluates a company's effectiveness and value in regard to outfitted behavior in relation to individual objectives. Field work standards auditing is an iatrical part in outfitted audits. A tall amount of importance is placed on the auditor's competence and effectiveness.

A compliance audit seeks to determine if a company is performing in agreement with rules and regulations in their financial and operational activities. This type of audit demonstrates Reporting Standards. These are rudiments of GAAS and a condition under SOX. "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 obliges companies to have a dual-purpose review that audits both the financial statements and management's contention as to whether it has complied with criteria regarding a sufficient system of internal management over financial reporting.

SOX is designed to affect how auditors perform their jobs as precise measures must be followed. In addition, SOX summarizes how interior controls are audited, as it is the auditor's job to present an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity's internal control over financial reporting. In an effort to improve the effectiveness of audits, auditing methods used by many industry professionals prior to SOX, were no longer considered satisfactory. For example, when auditing some financial statements, auditors would often choose to perform procedures of realistic importance rather than conducting a full test of the controls. Post SOX, the effectiveness of management's internal control over financial reporting is reported on annually, whereas prior to SOX this function was often performed under cycle rotation.

The PCAOB currently has six auditing standards for auditors to comply with. Auditing conducted under PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 6 must properly evaluate consistency of financial statements. This standard affects today's auditing procedures by ensuring auditors properly identify consistency matters which may affect the report. For example, when presented with several years of comparative financial statements prepared by different auditors, the successor auditor is to evaluate consistency between his or her report and the immediate preceding period.

In addition to PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 6, auditors must comply with other requirements, such as: auditing internal controls over financial reporting that is integrated with an audit of financial statements, presenting specific documentation to provide a written record of the basis for the auditor's conclusions, and reporting on previously documented materials. Additional requirements by SOX include restricting auditing companies from providing additional, non-auditing, services.