Codification of Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements

As of January 1, 2008
All Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements in effect have been arranged by subject and fully indexed in this useful reference.

New to the 2008 edition is Revised Interpretation No. 6 of AT Section 101, “Reporting on Attestation Engagements Performed in Accordance With Government Auditing Standards”

Includes all amendments and conforming changes.

Attestation Standards

Introduction

The accompanying ''attestation standards'' provide guidance and establish a broad framework for a variety of attest services increasingly demanded of the accounting profession. The standards and related interpretive commentary are designed to provide professional guidelines that will enhance both consistency and quality in the performance of such services.

For years, attest services generally were limited to expressing a positive opinion on historical financial statements on the basis of an audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). However, certified public accountants increasingly have been requested to provide, and have been providing, assurance on representations other than historical financial statements and in forms other than the positive opinion. In responding to these needs, certified, public accountants have been able to generally apply the basic concepts underlying GAAS to these attest services. As the range of attest services has grown, however, it has become increasingly difficult to do so.

Consequently, the main objective of adopting these attestation standards and the related interpretive commentary is to provide a general framework for and set reasonable boundaries around the attest function As such, the standards and commentary (a) provide useful and necessary guidance to certified public accountants engaged to perform new and evolving attest services and (b) guide AICPA standard-setting bodies in establishing, if deemed necessary, interpretive standards for such services.

The attestation standards are a natural extension of the ten generally accepted auditing standards. Like the auditing standards, the attestation standards deal with the need for technical competence, independence in mental attitude, due professional care, adequate planning and supervision, sufficient evidence, and appropriate reporting; however, they are much broader in scope.  (The eleven attestation standards are listed below.) Such standards apply to a growing array of attest services. These services include, for example, reports on descriptions of systems of internal control; on descriptions of computer soft- ware; on compliance with statutory, regulatory, and contractual requirements; on investment performance statistics; and on information supplementary to financial statements. Thus, the standards have been developed to be responsive to a changing environment and the demands of society.

These attestation standards apply only to attest services rendered by a certified public accountant in the practice of public accounting-that is, a practitioner as defined in footnote 1 of paragraph .01.
The attestation standards do not supersede any of the existing standards in Statements on Auditing Standards (SASs) and Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARSs). Therefore, the practitioner who is engaged to perform an engagement subject to these existing standards should follow such standards.