SEC Approves Several PCAOB Standards

The SEC announced that it has approved amendments to the following PCAOB standards:

• AS 1000 — This standard and related amendments “reaffirm, consolidate, and modernize the general principles and responsibilities of the auditor when conducting an audit.”
• AS 1105 — Clarifies the PCAOB’s requirements related to “audit procedures that involve technology-assisted analysis” in its auditing standards on audit evidence.
• AS 2301 — Addresses the auditor’s responses to the risks of material misstatements.
• Rule 3502 — Changes the threshold under which an “associated person of a registered public accounting firm” can be held accountable for contributing to the firm’s violation of the PCAOB’s standards and regulations — from “recklessness” to “negligence.”

For more information, including the standards’ effective dates, see the press release on the SEC’s Web site.