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ICPA Statements on Standards for Attesta- ■ Electronic transactions, electronic docu-
tion Engagements (SSAEs, or attestation ments, and supporting systems meet specific
Astandards) establish requirements for criteria, such as those specified by Visa or
performing and reporting on examination, review, Mastercard.
and agreed-upon procedures (AUP) engagements. ■ A long-term-care facility meets a state’s require-
In an examination, the practitioner performs ments to participate in Medicare and Medicaid
procedures to obtain reasonable assurance in programs.
order to be able to draw reasonable conclusions ■ Computer security systems meet specified criteria,
on which to base the practitioner’s opinion on the such as those specified in the AICPA’s System
subject matter or on an assertion; in a review, the and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) framework
practitioner performs procedures to obtain limited or in the National Institute of Standards and
assurance in order to express a conclusion on the Technology (NIST) Standards.
subject matter or an assertion; and in an AUP ■ Controls at a service organization are suit-
engagement, the practitioner performs specified ably designed and operating effectively to
procedures and reports findings on the perfor- achieve specified control objectives, based on
mance of those procedures without providing an criteria for suitability of design and operating
opinion or a conclusion. These engagements are effectiveness.
intended to enhance users’ confidence in financial ■ Enterprise risk management (ERM) systems
and nonfinancial information other than historical meet COSO criteria.
financial statements. ■ Labor practices meet federal Fair Labor Stan-
If engaged to issue an opinion or a conclusion dards Act requirements. About the
on historical financial statements, the practitioner authors
would perform the engagement in accordance with CASE STUDY Abraham Akresh,
Statements on Auditing Standards or State- The following case study relates to a day care center CPA, is owner of
ments on Standards for Accounting and Review and: the firm Abraham
Services, respectively. To clarify the standards ■ Identifies the attestation services that a D. Akresh CPA in
and to appropriately provide increased flexibility practitioner might provide; Potomac, Md. Alan
for practitioners to provide value to clients, the ■ Illustrates the differences between these Reinstein, CPA,
AICPA Auditing Standards Board (ASB) recently services; CGMA, DBA, is the
issued the following attestation standards: ■ Indicates when each service might be useful; George R. Husband
■ SSAE No. 19, Agreed-Upon Procedures and Professor of
Engagements. ■ Explains how a practitioner may recommend a Accounting at the
■ SSAE No. 20, Amendments to the Description of service to best meet a client’s needs. School of Business
the Concept of Materiality. Attestation services share common attributes, Administration
■ SSAE No. 21, Direct Examination Engagements. which include performing client acceptance at Wayne State
(In addition to creating a new AT-C section that procedures, obtaining an understanding of the University in
enables a practitioner to perform a new service subject matter, reaching a written understanding Detroit. Thomas
known as a direct examination, SSAE 21 revises of engagement terms with the engaging party, Weirich, CPA, Ph.D.,
the attestation standards for assertion-based properly planning and performing the work, is a professor of
examinations.) supervising team members, obtaining a man- accounting at
■ SSAE No. 22, Review Engagements. agement representation letter, and providing a Central Michigan
practitioner’s report. University in Mount
EXAMPLES Our hypothetical case study involves Key Day Pleasant, Mich.
Examples of underlying subject matter and criteria Care Center (Key), which Jane Key opened in
that a practitioner may report on in accordance 2020. Key is subject to many federal, state, and
with the attestation standards are whether: local rules and regulations, including those that
■ Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) require Key to:
practices meet criteria established by a regulator ■ Perform background checks on child care
(see “ESG Offers Growth Opportunities for providers;
2022,” JofA, Dec. 2021). ■ Maintain a certain ratio of child care staff to
■ Product performance metrics are fairly stated children;
and meet criteria established by an industry ■ Meet education and training requirements for
group. staff;

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