The PCAOB has released Auditing Standard No. 2 and, even more recently, No. 2004-008: Conforming Amendments to PCAOB Interim Standards Resulting from the Adoption of PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 2. These rules and auditing standards affect public accountants, management, boards of directors, audit committees, internal auditors, and accounting staff, among others. As a result of these new requirements, which the PCAOB has launched to regulate the accounting industry and, more directly, the conduct and requirements of audits, the field of auditing in the U.S. has been significantly changed.

Professionals who must resolve complex SEC and PCAOB compliance issues on a regular basis understand the challenge of quickly and accurately interpreting and implementing requirements such as the new PCAOB pronouncements. WG&L's Checklist for Applying the PCAOB Internal Control Standard provides detailed checklists of every step in the audit review process as well as all the relevant primary source material related to this new auditing standard on internal control. The result is a detailed roadmap for navigating these complex new rules for the professional practitioner, whether a member of management responsible for internal control over financial reporting, or an auditor responsible for auditing those internal controls.

The checklist consists of 14 sections providing detailed coverage of the following topics:

• Planning the engagement to audit internal control over financial reporting
• Evaluating management’s assessment process
• Obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting
• Testing and evaluating design effectiveness
• Testing and evaluating operating effectiveness
• Using the work of others
• Forming an opinion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting
• Written representations
• Relationship of an audit of internal control over financial reporting to an audit of the financial statements
• Documentation requirements
• Reporting on internal control over financial reporting
• Filings under federal securities statutes
• Auditor’s responsibilities for evaluating management’s certification disclosures about internal controls over financial reporting
• Required communications in an audit of internal control over financial reporting