The Standard Auditors Report: Preparer, User, And Student Reactions To The PCAOB Concept Release

Abstract

Concerns about the usefulness of the Standard Audit Report (SAR) have been expressed by investors and other users of corporate financial statement for several decades. During 2011 the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) reacted to those concerns by issuing Concept Release on Possible Revisions to the PCAOB Standards Related to PCAOB Standards (Release). This article provides a description of the SAR, a short history (timetable) of the pressures (surveys) to improve the SAR and events that have led to the eventual Release by the PCAOB. Feedback (comment letters and surveys) from professionals and professional organizations regarding the Release are examined and discussed. Accounting and finance majors, future preparers and users of the financial statements, were surveyed to determine both their reactions to the PCAOBs SAR and whether their reactions were different than practitioners. This article concludes with an analysis of the results and implications for audit practice and education.