Washington, D.C.

For the people in government, rather than the people who pester it, Washington is an early-rising, hard-working city. It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money.

– P. J. O’Rourke

Other Accounting Services

Attestation & Assurance Services Compliance Unaudited Financial Statements Internal Control Reporting Interim Financial Information Prospective Financial Statements New Services

Attestation AICPA Statement on Attestation Standards

– “Attestation results in a written communication that expresses a conclusion about the reliability of a written assertion that is the responsibility of another party”

– Positive assurance: conclusion based on an examination which provides positive, but not absolute assurance.

– Negative Assurance: conclusion based on a review which provides negative, and limited, assurance

Attestation Preconditions Practitioner is independent and has

adequate training & proficiency as well as subject matter knowledge

Reasonable measurement and disclosure criteria exist

The assertions are susceptible to reasonably consistent estimation or measurement using the criteria

Attestation vs. Auditing Standards

Internal Control usually not relevant GAAP not relevant Identity of Assertions & the nature of the

engagement Distribution restrictions TABLE 15.5 (pp. 651-52)

Compliance Attestation

May be Audits More often apply “agreed upon procedures” Laws & Regulations

– FDIC– EPA– Dept. of Education, Agriculture, etc.

Unaudited Financial Statements: Public Companies

CPA should disclaim an opinion (unaudited) when:– CPA’s name is used

– CPA has prepared or assisted in preparing the statements

“The accompanying balance sheet and related statements of...were not audited by us and, accordingly, we do not express an opinion on them”

Compilation & Reviews: Nonpublic Companies

Compilation– Prepare financial statements based upon client

supplied data

Review– More than a compilation, less than an audit– Consists of inquiry & analytic procedures– Excludes internal control evaluation,

confirmations, & other tests

Prospective Financial Statements CPA compiles, examines, or applies agreed

upon procedures to prospective financial statements:– Forecast: expected financial position, results of

operations, and cash flow reflecting conditions expected to exist

– Projection: financial position, income, and cash flows, under hypothetical assumptions.

New Services

Other Applications Are Being Created in the Competitive Marketplace

Examples:– AICPA Web Trust– Gambling Industry Certifications– Eldercare Certifications & Services

Financial Statement Attestation ServicesNO

ASSURANCELIMITED

ASSURANCEPOSITIVEASSURANCE

Compilation Review Audit

Read FinancialStatements

Understand AccountingPractices

Issue reportdisclaiming an opinion

Conduct inquiries

Perform AnalyticProcedures

Issue report disclaimingan opinion

Study & evaluateinternal controls

Observe, examine,confirm, reconcile,vouchIssue an audit report