SEC Climate Rules Create Lighter-Than-Feared Auditor To-Do List

Accountants and auditors got a break this week when the US Securities and Exchange Commission stripped out some of the most onerous financial reporting requirements in its landmark climate reporting rules.

But there’s still plenty of new audited financial details public companies will have to reveal under the sweeping new requirements, which means lots of numbers for accountants to compile, and then auditors to vet.

Blowback from auditors, trade groups, and companies themselves convinced the regulator to nix part of its 2022 plan to make publicly traded businesses go through every line in their financial statements and tally the ...