AICPA Issues Guidance on Quality Management

The AICPA’s Accounting and Review Services Committee has issued the following guidance on quality management:

• Statement on Quality Management Standards No. 1, A Firm’s System of Quality Management — Under this guidance, a firm must “design, implement and operate a system of quality management that is customized for the nature and circumstances of its accounting and auditing practice.”
• Statement on Quality Management Standards No. 2, Engagement Quality Reviews — Covers “the appointment and eligibility of the engagement quality reviewer and performance of engagement quality reviews.”
• Statement on Auditing Standards No. 146, Quality Management for an Engagement Conducted in Accordance With Generally Accepted Auditing Standards — Addresses, among other things, the “management of quality at the engagement level.”
• Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services No. 26, Quality Management for an Engagement Conducted in Accordance With Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services — Enhancements made by this guidance include improvements to “certain concepts related to quality management for engagements performed in accordance with SSARSs.”