Changes Coming in the Way Company Audits Are Inspected

An effort is underway by the U.S. audit regulator to overhaul the way it inspects company audits, with the goal of providing more timely and relevant assessments of how well auditors are protecting investors.

Members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board discussed their efforts in separate addresses to auditors and banking executives this week as the board works to crack a stubborn plateau in audit failures in recent years.

“We are reviewing the entire inspections ecosystem. It’s essentially back to basics,” member Jim Kaiser said Sept. 17 in Washington.

The board wants to issue inspection reports that offer investors ...