The staff of the American Institute of CPAs, the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board have jointly released guidance on the use of specialists in COVID-19 environment, including some considerations involving the use of specialists when auditing financial statements during the pandemic.
The staff guidance, released Tuesday, aims to help accountants and auditors determine when there might be a need to use the services of a specialist to help them perform specific tasks and other professional activities within their own organizations, as well as when they serve their clients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The publication discusses some of the ethical considerations for accountants to think about when using a specialist, along with some of the circumstances that indicate a need for a specialist when auditing financial statements.
The novel coronavirus pandemic has forced many accountants and auditors to work remotely, as well as curtailed travel to client locations, particularly those located abroad, when travel restrictions remain in place in many countries.
Adam Vander Weerdt is agribusiness region leader, for Westfield Insurance.
Jennifer has 20 years' experience in the contact center industry with more than 15 years as a people leader. Throughout her career, Jennifer has served in a variety of roles in the contact center space, including operations, quality, workforce management, and client services. As Chief Operating Officer, Jennifer leads Intradiem's Product Management, Product Marketing, Marketing, and Customer Success teams. Prior to this role, Jennifer has served as Chief Strategy Officer and has led the Customer Success organization.
Austin Talley, Founder and CEO of Everyware, is passionate about connecting with people and providing excellent customer satisfaction through innovative payment and communications solutions. He has over 20 years of experience in developing new businesses, leading sales teams, increasing market share, and growing the bottom line. Launched in 2015, his company provides services to more than 9,000 merchants across multiple verticals including healthcare, travel, utilities, not-for-profit, and automotive. The platform offers a simple, fast, and secure way to move money while enhancing the ability for merchants to communicate with their customers in real-time with text messaging. It saves them money by improving cash flow and reducing paper billing costs, chargebacks, and fraud. For more information about Everyware, visit Everyware.com or follow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
The guidance points out that the pandemic could also pose threats to ethical standards, and accountants may find it challenging with the changing laws and regulations pertaining to COVID-19. They may come under pressure to breach the principles of professional competence, due care and professional behavior. “Those who perform audits of financial statements may face additional challenges as well, including considerations related to auditor independence,” said the document. During the pandemic, accountants also might not have access to the usual resources they have at their offices to ensure competent performance, and they may need to turn to outside specialists to help them perform certain tasks or undertake some engagements.
The publication was developed by the staff of the AICPA under the auspices of a working group formed by the IESBA and national ethics standard setters from Australia, Canada, China, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S. The working group was chaired by IESBA deputy chair Richard Fleck with the goal of developing implementation support resources to help accountants effectively apply the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) when facing circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. IESBA and IAASB staff also provided their input. The working group plans to develop more COVID-19 guidance in the weeks ahead.
