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.
I am advising some clients to ladder maturities to lock in more dependable tax-free income streams — especially for those in states with high income taxes, like California.
Les Richmond's role in Build America Mutual’s credit underwriting group is to evaluate the pension and other postemployment benefit plans and liabilities of the municipal entities BAM guarantees.Prior to joining BAM, he was with Hay Group, where he was a Senior Principal. His experience includes project leadership of a four-year engagement to conduct an actuarial audit of the five New York City Retirement Systems.Les currently serves as a member of the Advisory Committee of the National League of Cities’ Public Sector Retirement Initiative. The goals of this new initiative are to develop research on trends, challenges and solutions to local government retirement and healthcare, and to engage and educate city leaders on strategies to achieve greater fiscal sustainability in these areas.He is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled Actuary, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries. He holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Rutgers College.
Mike Castino is Senior Vice President at U.S. Bank Global Fund Services and serves as Business Development Officer for exchange-traded products.
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.
