1. Are US Accounting and Auditing Standards law? Explain your answer!
2. Who established the SEC and what are the major functions of the SEC?
3. What role does the SEC play in establishing Accounting Practices? And why is the role important?
4. What events led to the passage of Sarbanes Oxley (SOX)?
5. What are some of the key provisions of Sarbanes Oxley?
6. What are the key roles of the PCAOB?
7. What is the peer-review process and how does it factor into the quality of audited financial statements?

Go to the PCAOB website:

1. Go to the Firm Inspection Reports Section
2. Pick a firm that interests you (other than KPMG)
3. Find an inspection report from 2020-2022 (The report should be dated during that period, but the review will have been conducted earlier.)
4. Submit the name of the firm and the date of the report and upload the report
   1. Identify the Country - International firms are audited around the world
5. Look at the Executive Summary and skim the rest of the report. Answer the following questions:
   1. How many audits/reports were included in the PCAOB examination?
   2. Briefly Outline the Deficiencies in the Report
   3. What audit standards were identified in the deficiencies?
   4. How did the firm respond?
   5. What surprised you about the PCAOB report?

Can't think of a firm - consider some of the local St. Louis firms or of the larger firms:

BDO

BKD, LLP

CliftonLarsonAllen LLP

Deloitte

Ernst & Young LLP

Grant Thornton LLP

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

RubinBrown

UHY LLP