Big Data Analysis Goes Under U.S. Audit Inspection Scrutiny (1)

The U.S. audit regulator criticized how some firms used new data analysis tools to vet corporate revenue accounting, saying auditors didn’t follow firm policies and failed to ensure the information’s accuracy, according to staff guidance released Monday.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board inspectors also identified lapses in core testing to ensure companies complied with revenue accounting rules that took effect in 2018, according to a high-level overview of 2020 firm inspection results. Revenue accounting is among the top areas of audit violations.

The PCAOB has said that its standards don’t bar the use of new automated technology ...