PCAOB Form AP: Leveraging Information about Audit Personnel

Abstract

SUMMARY The PCAOB's Form AP (audit personnel) includes the identity of the engagement partner, an indication of whether the audit report is dual-dated, and an indication of whether and to what extent other auditors participate in the engagement (in addition to the primary auditor). We review the nature of this information and prior literature relevant to audit partner identification, dual-dating, and involvement of other auditors as part of distributed audits, along with posing research questions and providing relevant instructional resources. Practitioners can use this information to garner insights from academic research on these important topics as they relate to their own audits. Academics can use this information to leverage the PCAOB's Form AP database in their research. Academics can also use the brief teaching resources to introduce the PCAOB's resources in this regard to students.