Bump in Audit Inspection Findings ‘Troubling,’ US Regulator Says

Pandemic challenges and staffing shortfalls are no excuse for rising lapses found during routine audit inspections, the chair of the US audit board said Monday.

Higher initial findings during 2022 inspections, coupled with the recently reported rise in violations detected last year, are a “troubling warning sign,” Erica Williams, chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, said at an American Institute of CPAs conference in Washington. Those results “cannot be explained away by the pandemic,” Williams said.

• Auditors have cited remote auditing, mass resignations in the industry last year, and ongoing recruitment challenges as hurdles for ...