CPAs have a new standard to follow during audits of internal controls.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has adopted Auditing Standard No. 5, “An Audit of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting That Is Integrated with An Audit of Financial Statements,” to replace its previous Auditing Standard No. 2. The new standard is designed to:

• focus the internal control audit on the most important matters;
• eliminate procedures that are unnecessary to achieve the intended benefits;
• make the audit clearly scalable to fit the size and the complexity of any company; and
• simplify the text of the standard.

You’ll find complete details about the new standard here. Details about all auditing standards can be found on the PCAOB’s Web site.