The Impact of PCAOB Amendments on Valuation Specialists’ Perception of Audit Quality

SUMMARY In 2022, the PCAOB undertook an interim analysis of the newly issued AS 2501 and AS 1210 using comment letters and surveys/interviews with auditors, financial statement preparers, and audit committee members. We surveyed 58 valuation specialists for use in a comment letter because they are a critical component of the fair value accounting and auditing processes. They suggest that the new requirements generally led to increased (and possibly enhanced) communications between valuation teams and other constituent groups. This additional communication seemed to increase engagement hours, likely resulting in higher one-time fees. There appear to be additional costs, and the benefits and efficiencies did not necessarily offset them. It does not appear that valuation and audit teams encountered significant challenges implementing the new requirements, but reporting entities likely did. There was consensus that the new requirements contributed to improved audit quality but perhaps exacerbated the shortage of specialists. Data Availability: Our survey data will be made available upon request. Survey questions can be found in “Request for Comment: Post-Implementation Review Interim Analysis of Estimates and Specialists Audit Requirements,” including questions for respondents (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) 2022a).