Issue Date: 11/10/2014

PwC submitted a comment letter on the AICPA’s Enhancing Audit Quality (EAQ) discussion paper. Overall, we agree with the quality framework outlined in the discussion paper and believe that the underpinnings of audit quality are grounded in the concepts of due care, professional competence, and clear and concise standard setting. Professional skepticism is also a key element of due care and it is widely recognized as the mindset that an auditor is required to have. As a result, we believe it should be highlighted as part of the quality framework even if it is discussed as being part of due care.

We also support the goal of strengthening the AICPA’s peer review program to assist and promote the quality of reviewed firms and to continue to build confidence in our profession. We look forward to further details from the AICPA on the longer-term plans for practice monitoring in order to better understand the full impact of the EAQ initiative on practitioners. Any eventual changes to the peer review model will require a thorough cost-benefit analysis and broad discussion of the impacts to the AICPA member firms.

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Comments on Discussion Paper: Enhancing Audit Quality - Plans and Perspective for the U.S. CPA Profession (PDF 116kb)