STAFF AUDIT PRACTICE ALERT NO

1666 K Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20006 Telephone: (202) 207-9100 Facsimile: (202)862-8430 www.pcaobus.org STAFF AUDIT PRACTICE ALERT NO. 6 AUDITOR CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING USING THE WORK OF OTHER AUDITORS AND ENGAGING ASSISTANTS FROM OUTSIDE THE FIRM July 12, 2010 Staff Audit Practice Alerts highlight new, emerging, or otherwise noteworthy circumstances that may affect how auditors conduct audits under the existing requirements of the standards and rules of the PCAOB and relevant laws. Auditors should determine whether and how to respond to these circumstances based on the specific facts presented. The statements contained in Staff Audit Practice Alerts are not rules of the Board and do not reflect any Board determination or judgment about the conduct of any particular firm, auditor, or any other person. Introduction The PCAOB staff has observed that a number of registered public accounting firms located in the United States ("U.S.") have been issuing audit reports on financial statements filed by issuers that have substantially all of their operations outside of the U.S. Although there is nothing inherently inappropriate about this, observations from the Board's inspection process suggest that some firms may not be conducting those audits in accordance with PCAOB standards. Specifically, some firms may be issuing audit reports based on the work of another firm, or by using the work of assistants engaged from outside of the firm, without ...