Smith & Smith, CPAs audit the financial statement of Hansen Co, a public held company, for the year ended September 30, 2005. Assume you are a senior auditor of Smith & Smith. In a memorandum from you to the junior accountant, explain briefly about the authority and responsibility of audit committee under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Memorandum To: Junior Accountant Subject: Authority and responsibility of audit committee under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the audit committee must have authority over and be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, and oversight of the work of auditors for the purpose of preparing an audit report or related work.
The Act requires of every company that the audit committee approve all audit services and all permitted non-audit services to be provided by auditors before the services are provided.
The Act also requires auditors to report the following matters on a timely basis to the audit committee of the companies;
- All critical accounting policies and practices to be used. - All alternative treatments of financial information within GAAP, that have been discussed within management of the company.