Tag: audit committee

2017 Audit Committee Transparency Barometer from the Center for Audit Quality shows continued increase in enhanced disclosures

Earlier this month, the Center for Audit Quality together with Audit Analytics posted their annual Audit Committee Transparency Barometer, which measured the quality of  proxy disclosures regarding audit committees among companies in the S&P Composite 1500.   The report shows continued voluntary enhancements to transparency and broadly increased disclosure around audit committee oversight of the external auditor.  The report includes several useful examples of the types of disclosure discussed.

EY study shows continued increase in voluntary audit committee disclosures among the Fortune 100

With the SEC now considering whether to approve AS 3101, the PCAOB’s new enhanced disclosure requirement for the auditor’s report (see this PubCo post), and SEC concept releases and other disclosure projects still hovering in the ether, there seems to be a steady march by companies toward inclusion of more supplemental audit committee disclosures on a voluntary basis, according to a new study  by the EY Center for Board Matters. The study, which reviewed audit committee reporting in proxy statements by companies in the Fortune 100 for 2017, showed that companies in that elite group have demonstrated “[y]ear-over-year growth in voluntary audit-related disclosures in 2017 filings … similar to that seen in 2015 and 2016, indicating that companies and audit committees continue to reflect upon and make changes to the information that they communicate to shareholders.”

KPMG surveys audit committee concerns

by Cydney Posner What are audit committee members’ greatest concerns? Audit committee members participating in KPMG’s 2017 Global Audit Committee Pulse Survey identified risk management as the biggest challenge for audit committees in 2017, with 42% of those surveyed characterizing their existing risk management programs as requiring “substantial work,” and […]

SEC Chief Accountant and staff speak at AICPA National Conference

by Cydney Posner Earlier this month, at the 2016 AICPA conference on current developments, the SEC’s Chief Accountant and several staff members of his office shared their insights on a variety of key accounting topics, among them the following:

Large companies continue to enhance audit committee disclosures voluntarily, but pass on more delicate disclosures

by Cydney Posner With the PCAOB likely to adopt some form of enhanced disclosure requirement for the auditor’s report (see this PubCo post  and this PubCo post regarding the reproposal of disclosure of “critical audit matters”), and the SEC contemplating the addition of a number of disclosure mandates for audit […]

Center for Audit Quality provides tool to help audit committees assess non-GAAP financial measures

by Cydney Posner The Center for Audit Quality has released a new tool, Questions on Non-GAAP Measures: A Tool for Audit Committees, to help audit committees cope with non-GAAP financial measures (NGFMs).  Rather than provide a checklist, the CAQ provides examples of sample questions that audit committees should consider asking of management […]

Two tips for audit committees

by Cydney Posner It’s getting to be that time of year when visions of sugarplums may dance in your head — alongside more mundane thoughts and concerns about financial statements, audits, audit committees and year-end reporting that just might disturb your otherwise pleasant holiday season.  With that in mind, this column  in […]

Big companies voluntarily enhance audit committee disclosures

by Cydney Posner While the SEC and PCAOB ponder what to do with auditor and audit committee reports, an increasing number of large companies have begun to include more audit committee disclosures on a voluntary basis, according to an analysis by the EY Center for Board Matters. The study looked at […]

SEC issues concept release regarding potential additional audit committee disclosures

by Cydney Posner The SEC hasn’t issued a concept release since 2011, but that’s changed now with the posting of this concept release regarding possible revisions to audit committee disclosures (foreshadowed in this post). The concept release seeks public comment on possible new reporting requirements focused on the audit committee’s  responsibilities […]

Tools for Audit Committee Members

by Cydney Posner The Audit Committee Collaboration (ACC) has announced the release of new tools, the External Auditor Assessment Tool: A Reference for Audit Committees Worldwide and an updated U.S. version of the External Auditor Assessment Tool, both designed to assist audit committees in evaluating the external auditor, to assess the quality […]