The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

The United States has three auditing standard-setting bodies:

1. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, or AICPA, which issues auditing standards for auditors who are performing audits for private companies;
2. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, which issues standards for auditing public firms; and
3. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, or GAO, which issues standards for auditing state and local governments.

For your final project, which is worth 30 percent of your total grade, you are required to write a research paper of 2,500 to 3,000 words in length (with a typical font and spacing, this will come out to 10 to 12 pages). Your paper should present a comparison study of the AICPA, PCAOB, and GAO auditing standards in certain key areas (audit documentation and audit evidence).

Conduct research by visiting the Web sites of these three organizations and reading the auditing standards for Audit Documentation and Audit Evidence. Then write a comprehensive analysis and comparison of the requirements for audit documentation and audit evidence according to these three auditing standards-setting bodies. This will involve a discussion and critical analysis of the various standards and their requirements, as well as a discussion of the positive and/or negative effects of the standards.

Sample Solution