Focus on Engagement Quality: How to Avoid Deficiencies in Peer Reviews

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Instructor

Michael
Brand

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Michael Brand

Bio

Michael L. Brand, CPA, CGMA is currently an A & A partner in the firm of BMSS, LLC CPAs and Advisors. He received his B.S. in accounting from the University of North Alabama and has been in the practice of public accounting for over 30 years.

Known as a nationally acclaimed, accounting industry expert and speaker, Michael (Mike) has been involved in all aspects of public accounting, with an emphasis in providing accounting, auditing and review services to clients in the for-profit, nonprofits and governmental sectors.

He is also involved in various committees at both the state and national levels. He is a former member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Professional Ethics Executive Committee, is the past chair of the AICPA’s Accounting and Review Services Committee and the Alabama Society of CPA’s Peer Review Committee and is the current Chair for the ASCPA. Furthermore, Mike teaches continuing education classes across the country for state societies and individual firms and has received the AICPA’s Outstanding Discussion Leader Award multiple times along with the ASCPA’s Thomas A. Ratcliffe Outstanding Discussion Leader Award.

In addition to teaching, Mike regularly speaks at conferences nationwide and in various other countries. He conducts peer reviews across the United States and was formerly on the Peer Review Board, Joint Trial Board, and Quality Control Standards Task Force of the AICPA. He is the current co-chair of the Engage Conference (the AICPA’s largest conference held over multiple days with thousands of attendees).

With the AICPA's heightened focus on enhancing audit quality, increased oversight of the peer review process and the auditor's overall responsibility to provide high quality services, the focus on compliance with professional standards has never been greater. Recent peer reviews have indicated that auditors are often failing to perform and/or document certain critical components of an audit such as the auditor's assessment of risk and linking the results of the assessment to substantive procedures performed. In addition, auditors are not adequately documenting their consideration of fraud, expectations in analytical procedures and the appropriate level of work needed to understand an entity's internal control. Now is time to revisit the way that auditors are performing and documenting the work performed to meet professional standards since nonconforming engagements can result in an auditor's referral to the AICPA Ethics Committee. This course will focus on the most significant items resulting in deficiencies identified in the peer review process. We will also discuss the applicable audit standards, documentation requirements and best practices. The objective of the course is to provide the insights necessary to help an auditor improve not just the quality of their work but also the perception of the accounting profession as a whole.

Learning Objectives

Identify key elements of the AICPA's Enhancing Audit Quality initiative
Recognize key trends in recent peer review deficiencies noted
Identify professional standards related to performing a risk assessment, understanding and testing internal controls and linking these procedures to further audit consideration
Implement best practices to help ensure overall engagement quality

Major Topics

AICPA's Enhancing Audit Quality initiative
Feedback from peer reviews, including areas driving deficiencies in audit
Elements of an effective risk assessment and how to link to audit procedures performed
Understanding internal controls and making the decision whether or not to test them
Best practices in documentation

CPE Credits Available

8 CPE

8: Accounting & Auditing

Things to Know About This Course

Course Level

Intermediate

Professional Area of Focus

A & A
Deficiencies
Peer Review

Prerequisites

Experience in accounting and auditing

Advanced Preparation

None

Intended Audience

Accounting and auditing practitioners at all levels desiring to improve engagement quality

Provider

Surgent McCoy CPE