AICPA Auditing Standards Board Addresses Auditor Reporting on ERISA Plan Financial Statements.

• Position: NEW AUDITING STANDARD

The AICPA's Auditing Standards Board (ASB) has issued a new auditing standard--Statement on Auditing Standards Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements of Employee Benefit Plans Subject to ERISA--that addresses the auditor's responsibility to form an opinion and report on the audit of financial statements of employee benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the form and content of the auditor's report issued as a result of an audit of ERISA plan financial statements.

The new auditing standard includes new requirements for engagement acceptance, audit risk assessment and response, communications with those charged with governance, procedures for an ERISA Sec. 103(a)(3)(C) audit, and considerations relating to the Form 5500.

It also contains a new report format for ERISA Sec...