News

The coronavirus pandemic created a challenging environment for CPA practitioners related to the new auditor reporting standards that were developed by the AICPA Auditing Standards Board (ASB).

CPAs and their clients will experience substantial benefits from implementing the new standards because they were developed to enhance the communicative value of the auditor’s report and align generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) with the standards issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the PCAOB.

But the difficulties created by the pandemic left many audit firms lacking the resources to implement the new standards in a timely and effective manner. As a result, the ASB has deferred the effective dates of its recently issued Statements on Auditing Standards (SASs) addressing auditor reports. With the issuance of SAS No. 141, Amendment to the Effective Dates of SAS Nos. 134–140, these SASs are now generally effective for audits of calendar year-end 2021 financial statements.