By George Wilson
In his speech “Seeing Through the Regulatory Looking Glass: PCAOB Inspection Reports” (which includes a delightful number of Alice in Wonderland references!), PCAOB Board Member J. Robert Brown Jr. explores historical decisions the Board made about the content and structure of inspection reports. He then describes changes the current Board is making to these reports in their process of increasing transparency, including:
- Use of plain English
- Less jargon
- Providing an executive summary
- Including comparative charts and tables
In addition the Board is now grouping findings into three categories:
- Findings that included an accounting violation
- Audits with multiple deficiencies
- Audits with a single deficiency