Audit Methodology Enablement
Action Effectiveness Monitoring
Assurance Learning
Audit Phasing and Project Management
Assurance Practice Restructure
Audit Quality Advisory Council
Quality Management Investments
Audit Quality Coalition
Enhanced Accountability Frameworks
Workload Assessments
Client Acceptance and Continuance
Auditor Independence
Audit Quality = Skepticism, Expertise, Execution, Depth (SEED)
Assurance Practice Restructure
Restructured assurance practice leadership for more effective engagement resourcing, decision-making, consistent communications, and accountability.
Integrated experienced hires, many from the PCAOB, as part of a rigorous approach to identify opportunities to improve quality across the assurance practice.
Quality Management Investments
Reimagined our curriculums, focusing on dynamic, skills-based learning, application-based design, coaching, and on the job reinforcement.
Assurance Learning
Implemented a disciplined approach and tool for audit phasing and project management to address risks promptly, alleviate compression, and enable thoughtful evaluations throughout the audit.
Audit Phasing and Project Management
Assembled a team to create and drive adoption of our audit process tools, templates, and guidance; thereby creating a consistent audit experience and enhancing our professionals' ability to comply with professional standards.
Audit Methodology Enablement
Established the AQAC, which includes an independent council member, to directly advise our CEO and Board of Directors on audit quality matters.
Audit Quality Advisory Council (AQAC)
Real-time evaluation of remedial actions aimed at enhancing and sustaining audit quality into the future. This includes broadening the scope of pre-issuance reviews to provide engagement teams with timely feedback, enabling continuous improvement.
Action Effectiveness Monitoring
Centralized, under national leadership, various assurance practice functions - e.g., information systems assurance and engagement quality reviews.
Centralization of Assurance Quality Review Functions
Created a guiding group of assurance directors and managers to help solidify a culture of outstanding audit quality.
Audit Quality Coalition
Implemented new performance measures focused on quality and established required mandatory audit quality goals as part of performance management and compensation decisions. Refreshed job-level competencies to drive accountability for audit quality.
Enhanced Accountability Frameworks
Strengthened firm independence policies, monitoring, and education through new training, tools, and resources for BDO's investment tracking system; transitioned independence affirmations to a technology-enabled automated system; strengthened compliance sanctioning guidelines; and reinforced with leadership messaging.
Auditor Independence
Enhanced workload assessments to facilitate proper audit phasing to allow for adequate time for the most critical aspects of the audit and appropriate application of professional skepticism throughout.
Workload Assessments
Continuously analyze our client acceptance and continuance policies to enable the firm to audit companies that reflect similar values and put quality first.
Client Acceptance and Continuance
Centralization of Assurance Quality Review Functions