The Future for Audit Committees: Changes to Accounting Rules, Disclosures, and Practices

As corporations face more complex and interconnected risks in today’s global economy, the responsibilities and workload of the audit committee have continued to expand and become more complicated. On top of that general trend, there are significant uncertainties regarding auditing standards, financial reporting, and disclosure rules that audit committee members need to have on their radar screens. Although the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has recently been critical of audit quality and has issued a number of new auditing standards, the fate of those standards is unclear. Meanwhile, the Financial Accounting Standards Board is moving forward with its proposal to disaggregate the income statement, which will become effective beginning next year. And, although the current Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioners have revisited rules adopted by the last administration, such as those enhancing disclosures for climate, these disclosures may nonetheless be required abroad. This session will discuss best practices for how audit committee members can keep up with these expanded responsibilities and prepare for changes to accounting, reporting, and disclosure obligations that will fall under the committee’s oversight.