On December 10, 2024, PCAOB Chair Erica Williams spoke at the AICPA & CIMA Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments. She addressed the inspections program; firm culture; transparency into the inspection reports; standard-setting; the Board's use of technology; and enforcement. She emphasized that inspectors had seen "significant improvements in the aggregate Part I.A deficiency rate from the largest firms" and encouraged firms "not to let this momentum slip away." She qualified the praise of progress noting that there was a rise in restatements. She detailed the current Board's efforts to update standards and rules that had been "largely untouched" from when they were originally written – specifically pointing to AS 1000, General Responsibilities of the Auditor, and QC 1000. Chair Williams discussed the PCAOB's efforts around firm culture and detailed key findings from a study of over 150 interviews of partners at the six GNF firms. She also detailed PCAOB efforts related to transparency and pointed to the inclusion of new information relating to independence and efforts to provide audit committees with information. She highlighted the Board's implementation of certain technology in its pursuit to be a "data-driven regulator." Lastly, Chair Williams briefly touched on enforcement and referenced enforcement efforts related to exam cheating and matters in China.
Chair William's remarks can be found here.
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