Treasury Department's committee on auditing profession preparing report after subcommittee recommendations.

An article in the Apr. issue of The CPA Letter updated members on the activities of the Treasury Department's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (www.treasury.gov). The committee was formed to develop recommendations relating to the sustainability of the public company auditing profession. AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon is one of the accounting profession's representatives on the 21-member committee and also serves on one of its three subcommittees. The subcommittees have provided their draft recommendations to the full committee, which has begun to prepare its final report for release in late July.

Since Oct. 2007, the committee has been exploring areas and issues that are critical to the profession's sustainability, including attracting and retaining the people who make audit quality a reality and the organizational structure and financial resources of public company audit firms. Following are brief summaries of the subcommittees' recommendations:

Human Capital

Melancon is a member of this subcommittee which examined the auditing profession's ability to cultivate, attract and retain the human capital necessary to meet developments in the business and financial reporting environment and ensure audit quality for investors. Among its recommendations were to:

* Continue implementing market driven, dynamic curricula and content that evolves to meet the needs of the auditing profession and helps new CPAs perform high-quality audits.

* Ensure a robust supply of financial accounting, audit and tax faculty to meet the demand for the future.

* Improve the recruitment and retention of minorities to enrich the pool of human capital in the profession, including a boost in the number of minority accounting doctorates.

Firm Structure and Finances

Organizational structure, financial resources and communication of the public company auditing profession were covered by this subcommittee whose recommendations included:

* Creation of a center for auditing firms and other market participants to share fraud prevention and detection experiences, the development of best practices...