Page 456 - Introduction to Business

430 PART 4 Accounting

SARBANES-OXLEY ACT (http://www.sarbanes-oxley.com). This website allows
firms to stay abreast of the proposed and final rules and regulations issued by the
SEC to implement the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA). Key provisions of the SOA were

Establishes a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board consisting of five
full-time members to set “auditing, quality control, ethics, independence
and other standards relating to the preparation of audit reports”
Limits the types of consulting services audit firms can provide to their public
company audit clients
Requires retention of audit work papers necessary to support the audit
report for seven years
Requires auditors to report on internal control, perform tests of compliance
with SEC rules and regulations, perform concurring partner reviews, and
rotate lead and concurring partners at least every five years
Prohibits audit firms from auditing public companies whose CEO, CFO, con-
troller, or equivalent worked for the audit firm during the preceding year

PUBLIC COMPANY ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT BOARD (www.pcaob.com). The Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board will perform annual peer reviews of audit
firms with 100 or more public company audit clients, and every three years will
review all other firms with public company audit clients. The board has the author-
ity to investigate and discipline public company auditors. The website contains all
the latest information on standard setting and quality review. The site also includes
news and current events and links to a technical forum and a management forum.

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET (www.whitehouse.gov/omb). Under the
Grants Management link, this site provides the full text of OMB Circular A–133,
Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations. This circular
establishes uniform audit requirements for nonfederal entities that administer fed-
eral awards and implements the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996. It also
provides the March 2000 Compliance Supplement, which identifies existing impor-
tant compliance requirements that the federal government expects to be considered
as part of an audit required by the 1996 amendments. Since auditors are required to
follow the provisions of OMB Circular A–133 and the Compliance Supplement, this
site is very useful in tracking changes to these important documents.

Websites Related to International Accounting and Auditing. The fol-
lowing websites are useful for researching current issues pertaining to international
accounting and auditing:

INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD (www.iasb.org). The IASB issues
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The IASB’s website provides a
detailed summary of these standards. The site also provides information on IASB’s
projects and news releases, as well as on its structure and operation. This site will
be very interesting to those who are following the harmonization of international
and U.S. accounting standards. There is even a quiz to test your knowledge of inter-
national standards.

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ACCOUNTANTS (www.ifac.org). Those with an inter-
est in international auditing standards and the harmonization of standards will find
this site very interesting. The International Auditing and Assurance Standards
Board (IAASB) is a committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
that works to improve the uniformity of auditing practices and related services
throughout the world by issuing pronouncements on a variety of audit and assur-

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