Generally accepted auditing standards were adopted by the AICPA to provide guidance for the performance of audits. As these standards expand, the profession has developed more general attestation standards, contained in SSAE No. 1.
In addition to the auditing standards, a CPA firm should establish adequate quality control policies and procedures to provide reasonable assurance that it follows professional standards on every engagement. To that end, the AICPA has issued six elements to quality control standards to provide CPA firms with guidance in establishing quality control policies.
The attestation standards are meant to serve as a general framework and to set general boundaries for the attest function, while the quality control standards provide CPA firms with guidance in establishing quality control policies.
Part 2 – Concept Check