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.
As chief information officer at Wiss, Hrishikesh Pippadipally is responsible for creating and executing technology strategies and roadmaps. This includes leading efforts to build and modernize products and platforms that provide security, flexibility, and scalability, allowing partners to manage operations successfully and deliver services to end users. In addition to the firm's internal CIO responsibilities, he provides his CIO and CTO advisory expertise to clients with IT strategy, digital transformation, cloud acceleration, enterprise architecture, business process optimization, info security, cybersecurity and infrastructure needs. In prior roles, he worked as a senior technology leader with nearly two decades of experience in delivering enterprise-class solutions in the Financial Services industry with a strong understanding of both technology and business.
Berend de Jong is the Global Insurance and Finance Lead at Planet, a leading provider of global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions. Planet is driven by a mission to image the world every day and make change visible, accessible and actionable. Founded in 2010 by three NASA scientists, Planet designs, builds and operates the largest Earth observation fleet of imaging satellites. The company provides mission-critical data, advanced insights and software solutions to customers across agriculture, forestry, intelligence, education and finance, as well as government agencies, enabling users to simply and effectively derive unique value from satellite imagery.
As director of account anagement, Jill Dobbe builds strong relationships with Orgvue clients, guiding them to enhance their organizational planning capabilities through technological solutions. With more than two decades of expertise in strategic planning, human resources, and organizational development—including extensive experience supporting Fortune 100-500 organizations and serving within John Deere and a non-profit healthcare system—Jill is dedicated to empowering organizations to define and achieve their future strategies. Her comprehensive background encompasses successful leadership of initiatives in strategic workforce planning, analytics, organizational design, transformation, and change management across diverse industries and global environments.
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.
