SSARS No. 17, Omnibus--2008, issued.

The Accounting and Review Services Committee has issued Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services No. 17, Omnibus Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services--2008 (No. 060655CPA03; see page 5 for order information). Effective for compilations and reviews of financial statements for periods ending on or after Dec. 15, 2008, with early application permitted, SSARS No. 17:

* Revises AR section 100, Compilation and Review of Financial Statements; AR section 200, Reporting on Comparative Financial Statements; and AR section 300, Compilation Reports on Financial Statements Included in Certain Prescribed Forms (AICPA, Professional Standards, vol. 2), to conform to the terminology utilized by other standard setters, including the Auditing Standards Board, by replacing the term nonpublic entity with the term nonissuer. Generally, a nonpublic entity as currently defined in AR section 100.04 is considered a nonissuer under the revised definition.

* Revises the definition of compilation of financial statements in paragraph 100.04 and clarifies the objective of a compilation engagement as an engagement in which no assurance is provided and incorporating such objective in a new section entitled "Objective of a Compilation Engagement." In addition, the illustrative engagement letter for a compilation of financial statements and the illustrative engagement letter for a compilation of financial statements not intended for third-party use are revised to incorporate the stated objective.

* Revises the definition of review of financial statements in AR section 100.04; revises and incorporates the objective of a review engagement in a new section entitled "Objective of a Review Engagement"; and revises AR section 100.26 to state that in a review engagement the accountant must (1) apply analytical procedures to the financial statements, (2) make inquires of management or other company personnel, or both, and (3) obtain representations from management for all financial statements and periods covered by the accountant's review report. AR section 100.31 also is revised to properly state the above requirement with respect to analytical procedures.

* Revises the...