Companies, Investors Pitch Changes to Audit Inspection, Standards

Investors, public companies, and accounting firms want faster audit inspection results and suggested several areas where the U.S. audit regulator should devise new standards.

The letters came in response to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s draft strategic plan for the coming year—the first such document the board has issued since all five members were replaced last December—in a bid to shape the agency’s agenda.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP suggested that the fresh batch of regulators should rework the inspections process. Telling firms “as soon as practicable, the nature and significance of its inspection results” would help auditors address deficiencies and bolster ...