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.
Frank Buytendijk is a Gartner Fellow in Gartner's Data and Analytics group, pioneering the topic of "digital ethics" and "digital society" helping organizations to do the "right thing" with technology and avoid "messing up." Mr. Buytendijk further covers data and analytics.In addition to his responsibilities at Gartner, Mr. Buytendijk is a visiting Fellow at Cranfield University School of Management, and a regular guest lecturer at Warwick Business School. Mr. Buytendijk has a solid history of his work being right on time or becoming relevant one to two years after publication.Examples include ethics/privacy in analytics (2012), embracing complexity (2011), management excellence (2009), behavioral performance management (2008), high-performance organizations (2005), collaborative decision making (2003), enterprise performance management (2002), business activity monitoring (2001) and BI/ERP (1998).
Don Korn is a freelance financial writer with expertise in taxes, tax shelters, investments, real estate, financial planning, retirement planning, estate planning, life and health insurance.
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.
