Chapter 2 Organization and Structure of the Auditing Profess(11)

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audit findings, sometimes called critical issues, for the manager's and partner's attention. Less experienced personnel are responsible for completing assigned tasks under supervision. Their assignments, which vary with the size and complexity of the engagement, generally include preparing documentation of the understanding of the entity's business and its internal control, performing various types of auditing procedures and documenting the results, and keeping higher-level personnel informed of all findings.

2.4 ORGANIZATION OF THE AUDITING PROFESSION

The auditing profession in the United States has formed numerous voluntary groups with various purposes, among them the AICPA, state societies or institutes of CPAs, and The Institute of Internal Auditors, all of which have broadly based memberships. In addition, there are more specialized organizations of government auditors, computer auditors, teachers of auditing, and internal auditors with particular industry interests. The designation "Certified

Public Accountant" is granted by state boards of accountancy, discussed in the next section of this chapter.

(a) American Institute of CPAs

The mission of the AICPA is "to provide members with the resources, information, and

leadership that enable them to provide valuable services in the highest professional manner to benefit the public as well as employers and clients." About 40 percent of the AICPA's

approximately 330,000 members, all of whom are required to be CPAs, are in public practice either with CPA firms or as sole practitioners. (The rest are in business and industry,

government, or education, or are retired.) The AICPA provides a broad range of services to members, including continuing professional education, technical accounting and auditing assistance, auditing standard setting, self-regulation of the profession, and assistance in managing an accounting practice.

Ultimate authority over the AICPA is vested in its Council. Its 23-member Board of Directors, which includes three non-Institute members who represent the public, administers resources and sets policy. Pronouncements in the form of technical and ethical standards are issued by senior technical committees composed of Institute members in public practice and, to some extent, in industry, government, and academe. Those committees and the pronouncements they issue are shown in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1 Pronouncements Issued by AICPA Senior Technical Committees Senior Technical

Committee

Accounting and

Review Services

Committee Public Statements Issued or Reviewed Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services, and Interpretations Statements on Standards for Attestation

Engagements aa