The American Institute of CPAs’ Auditing Standards Board has voted to seek public comment on proposed changes to attestation standards, in part to address sustainability information and other emerging areas of assurance, the AICPA said on Feb. 5.
An exposure draft of the proposed changes—Proposed Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements, Common Concepts, Examination Engagements, Review Engagements, and Engagements to Report on Sustainability Information—can be found here.
The proposed changes reflect the ongoing evolution in attestation services, in which practitioners are increasingly asked to provide services beyond audits of the financial statements, such as in the areas of sustainability, digital assets, cybersecurity, governance, and related controls.
The exposure draft consists of two main parts:
- Updates to the baseline attestation standards to address evolving practice, and
- Two new AT-C sections related to engagements to report on sustainability information: Proposed AT-C section 325, Reporting on an Examination of Sustainability Information, and Proposed AT-C section 330, Reporting on a Review of Sustainability Information.
The exposure draft also proposes to supersede the following SSAEs to address evolving practice:
- No. 18, Attestation Standards: Clarification and Recodification, as amended, — Section 105, Concepts Common to All Attestation Engagements (AICPA, Professional Standards, AT-C sec. 105)
- No. 21, Direct Examination Engagements, as amended, — Section 205, Assertion-Based Examination Engagements (AICPA, Professional Standards, AT-C sec. 205)
- No. 22, Review Engagements, as amended (AICPA, Professional Standards, AT-C sec. 210)
Adoption of the updates is expected to occur next year, pending revisions after the comment period and further deliberation by the Auditing Standards Board.
The proposed SSAE would become effective for engagements beginning on or after June 15, 2029. Early implementation would be permitted.
The comment period ends June 30, 2026. The Auditing Standards Board requests that respondents download the online survey and submit their comments to commentletters@aicpa-cima.com.
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