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Since 2019, the PCAOB has had a “target team” of inspectors to examine audits in areas of special concern. In 2023, the team reviewed audits dealing with crypto assets, audits involving significant or unusual transactions, and audits taking place in multiple jurisdictions.
The team found no control deficiencies or misstatements in the seven audits of unusual transactions. Three of those audits had events the PCAOB considered significant or unusual, including a goodwill impairment due to falling crypto prices and an acquisition that expanded a company’s market share on social media and among influencers.
Likewise, the team only found two deficiencies in the 11 multi-jurisdiction audits it reviewed. Some of those took place in countries at war, including Russia, Ukraine, Gaza, and Israel. Others included companies with operations in China that transitioned from China-based audit firms to US-based firms. The two deficiencies both involved inaccurate information about member or other audit firms’ involvement on Form AP.
Audits that included crypto assets proved far more problematic. Of the 11 such audits the target team looked at, four showed “significant risks of material misstatement” due to the misappropriation, destruction, or theft of private keys (access codes used to prove ownership of crypto assets and permit transactions).
Five of the audits had deficiencies in other areas, including responding to the risk of material misstatement, providing complete audit evidence around controls, disclosing the participation of non-US audit team members on Form AP, and not complying with SEC and PCAOB standards around auditor independence.
In 2024, the target team is concentrating on a variety of topics, including audits of biotech startups, public companies’ use of AI, and auditors’ use of shared service centers.