The Audit Report Returns to Its Roots

An Historical Perspective on Critical Audit Matters

Howard B. Levy, CPA

The evolution of the standard audit report has been slow and cautious over the past century. Most recently, in 2011, the AICPA's Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) 122, Statements on Auditing Standards: Clarification and Recodification, referred to as its clarity standards, which revised the form of the standard audit report by introducing captioned sections and additional language intended to clarify auditors' responsibilities and distinguish them from management's responsibilities. Prior to that, the last substantive changes made to the standard audit report were introduced in 1988 (SAS 58, Reports on Audited Financial Statements) as part of a group of standards collectively called the “expectations gap” standards. SAS 58 represented an earlier attempt to inform users of auditors' responsibilities.