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Good Guidance: PCAOB Creates Advisory Group

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in April appointed 30 individuals, including seven from New York state, to assist in the standards-setting responsibilities entrusted to the board through the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Known as the Standing Advisory Group, the members “will help the board review existing auditing standards to identify where necessary changes or updates are needed to improve audit quality,” said PCAOB Chief Auditor Doug Carmichael in a press release.

Chosen from more than 170 nominations, the members were selected based on their qualifications and experience in fields ranging from accounting and auditing to corporate finance and corporate governance, as well as public company investing.

The group’s “multi-disciplined perspective” enables it to give advice to the board on “standard-setting priorities and policy implications of existing and proposed standards,” PCAOB Chairman William J. McDonough added in the press release. The PCAOB staff will continue to draft the standards, however.

The Standard Advisory Group will hold both open and executive sessions, with recommendations to the PCAOB to be made at open meetings.

New York state members of the group include: Donald H. Chapin, a financial management consultant; Randy G. Fletchall, Americas vice chair of professional practice and risk management for Ernst & Young; Wayne Kolins, national director of assurance for BDO Seidman; Bevis Longstreth, retired partner of Debevoise & Plimpton; Elizabeth Monrad, executive vice president and CFO for TIAA-CREF; Samuel J. Ranzilla, audit partner for KPMG; and David L. Shedlarz, executive vice president and CFO for Pfizer, Inc.