Assurance and Advisory
Accounting & Financial Reporting | Industry Insights | Audit & Attest | Review, Compilation & Preparation | Assurance & Advisory
CPAs are constantly challenged to stay relevant and competitive. Services provided by CPAs on subject matter other than historical financial statements add significant value in the marketplace. The information and resources here will help you keep abreast of new and emerging reporting and assurance needs and will provide you with the needed measurement criteria, guidance, tools, education and other support to help you embrace new service opportunities.
System and Organization Controls (SOC)
Guidance on SOC Suite of Services.
XBRL Assurance
Guidance on the assurance of XBRL-related documents.
Audit Data Analytics
Guidance and tools to help facilitate the use of audit data analytics.
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Emerging Opportunities for Your A&A Practice
The profession, marketplace, and world are undergoing extraordinary change. The AICPA is preparing its members for new assurance and advisory services that capitalize on latest technologies
More on AICPA TVTrust Services and Information Integrity
The Trust Services Criteria (TSC) are control criteria for use in attestation or consulting engagements to evaluate and report on controls over the security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, or privacy over information and systems (a) across an entire entity; (b) at a subsidiary, division, or operating unit level; (c) within a function relevant to the entity's operational, reporting, or compliance objectives; or (d) for a particular type of information used by the entity.
ASEC Trust Information Integrity Task Force is responsible for the Trust Service Criteria (TSC), including the technical accuracy, expanding its scope for entity-wide engagements, and developing related services that leverage the TSC.
The ASEC Trust Information Integrity Task Force has developed new Criteria for describing a set of data and evaluating its integrity. The new criteria can be used to assist management, board of directors, internal auditors, and other stakeholder in determining the relevance of the data to the users’ purpose and making decisions based on that set of data. The new criteria can be used by a CPA in an attestation engagement on the description or the set of data. In such an examination or review engagement, the CPA uses the criteria when evaluating the description, the set of data, or both. The criteria in this document may also be used when the CPA is engaged to provide other nonattest or advisory services to a client.
Assurance Implications of Blockchain
Blockchain is a shared distributed ledger system on which information about all virtual currency transactions, contracts or assets are recorded and made publicly available. Blockchain technology allows for peer to peer network transactions to occur without an intermediary, in a transparent, immutable environment. As the technology evolves, more businesses may prefer to transact over the blockchain.
The AICPA joined with CPA Canada and the University of Waterloo to explore the implications of blockchain technology on the future of audit and assurance. The Audit & Assurance Alert - Blockchain Technology and Its Potential Impact on the Audit and Assurance Profession explores the impact of blockchain technology on the financial statement audit and potential future roles for CPAs in the blockchain ecosystem.
A CPA's introduction to AI: From algorithms to deep learning
The AICPA and CPA Canada have issued two joint publications in the series of resources on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The first in the series is a foundational resource for all CPAs, A CPA's Introduction to AI: From algorithms to deep learning, what you need to know. It explains the AI "buzzwords" and terms you have likely been hearing (for example, machine learning, deep learning, robotic process automation, computer vision, etc.), discusses the evolution of data, AI and computing power, and helps you to begin learning about AI and how it might affect your work.
The second in the series not only explores the benefits of an AI-enabled audit and how AI will evolve the audit and the role of the auditor but also considers the change in mindset required to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities this evolution presents. Further, it provides a peek into the next step on the digital journey beyond the current state of AI, as well as the assurance-related opportunities that will directly result from these continued advancements.
The topics are covered in sufficient detail to enable auditors to begin thinking of ways to use and derive the greatest benefits from – and even embrace – AI. In the process, this publication makes the case for why now is the time for auditors to do just that.
Assurance Services Executive Committee and Task Forces
The Assurance Services Executive Committee (ASEC) addresses the needs of members by continually anticipating, identifying, assessing, and addressing evolving market needs and demand for assurance and advisory solutions.
ASEC and its related Task Forces create thought leadership, guidance and criteria, tools, and other member support on various topics. Visit the Committee page or the individual Task Force pages for more information.
