Wiley Practitioner's Guide to GAAS 2015: Covering all SASs, SSAEs, SSARSs, PCAOB Auditing Standards, and Interpretations

AT 20 Defining Professional Requirements in Statements on Standards for Attest Engagements

ORIGINAL PRONOUNCEMENT

Original Pronouncement

Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 13, Defining Professional Requirements in Statements on Standards for Attest Engagements.

DEFINING PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS IN STATEMENTS ON STANDARDS FOR ATTESTATION ENGAGEMENTS

SSAE 13 added AT Section 20 to the professional standards, which clarifies that the SSAEs use two categories of professional requirements to describe the degree of responsibility the standards impose on auditors.

• Unconditional requirements. The practitioner is required to comply with an unconditional requirement in all cases in which the circumstances exist to which the unconditional requirement applies. SSAEs use the words must or is required to indicate an unconditional requirement.
• Presumptively mandatory requirements. The practitioner also is required to comply with a presumptively mandatory requirement in all cases in which the circumstances exist to which the presumptively mandatory requirement applies; however, in rare circumstances, the practitioner may depart from a presumptively mandatory requirement provided the practitioner documents his or her justification for the departure and how the alternative procedures performed in the circumstances were sufficient to achieve the objectives of the presumptively mandatory requirement. SSAEs use the word should to indicate a presumptively mandatory ...