Auvenir Technologies ULC (“Auvenir”) has fully digitized the US Content Guide by Dr. Mark S. Beasley and Dr. Randy Elder into four separate engagement paths: Guided Audit Workflow, Guided Review Workflow, Guided Compilation Workflow, and Guided Preparation Workflow, all now available from within the Auvenir Pro Platform. Auvenir licenses the content of the US Content Guide under a special agreement with the all the authors for use by way of sublicense for customers within the Auvenir Pro platform.

When purchasing the Auvenir Pro license with the US Content Guide content, you will have access to the four engagement paths in Auvenir’s Pro Platform – Guided Audit Workflow, Guided Review Workflow, Guided Compilation Workflow, and Guided Preparation Workflow – based on the Audit and Attest and Compilation and Review Standards published by the AICPA, and publicly available to all practitioners, which is described by AICPA as follows:

“The standards are applicable to the preparation and issuance of audit reports for non issuers (that is, entities who are not issuers as defined by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and entities whose audits are not required to be conducted according to the PCAOB standards).”

For further information on the authoritative AICPA literature and related interpretations as of June 1, 2021, refer to the AICPA site at https://us.aicpa.org/research/standards/auditattest.html.

US Content Guide Authors 

Beasley Advisory Enterprises LLC engaging Dr. Mark S. Beasley

Dr. Mark S. Beasley, is Professor of Accounting and the Director of the Enterprise Risk Management Initiative in the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University. The Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Initiative provides thought leadership about ERM practices and their integration with strategy and corporate governance. He frequently works with boards of directors and senior management teams to assist them in strengthening their risk oversight processes. Dr. Beasley has extensive professional audit experience with one of the Big Four public accounting firms, including the development and delivery of audit training for several of the Big Four firms. He has extensive standards-setting experience working previously with the Auditing Standards Board as a Technical Manager in the Audit and Assurance Division of the AICPA and subsequently through service on standards-setting task forces of the ASB. He served over seven years as a member of the board of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).  He has published over 100 articles, books, thought papers, research monographs on topics related to auditing, corporate governance, enterprise risk management and fraudulent financial reporting.  He is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and symposia and provides advisory services to boards of directors and senior management on ERM best practices.

Elder Advisory Services LLC engaging Dr. Randy Elder

Dr. Randy Elder is a Professor of Accounting in the Bryan School of Business & Economics at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. He was previously a professor in the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, including serving as director of the Lubin School of Accounting in Whitman. He has extensive public accounting experience with a large regional CPA firm, frequently teaches continuing education for a large international CPA firm, and is a member of the AICPA. Dr. Elder teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on auditing practice and theory and is the recipient of several teaching awards. He is a co-author on the leading auditing textbook, Auditing and Assurance Services: An Integrated Approach Dr. Elder′s research has been published in several leading accounting journals include The Accounting Review, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Accounting Horizons, and Issues in Accounting Education. He is currently an  editor for Issues in Accounting Education, and serves on the editorial boards of several other journals.

 

US Content Guide Disclaimers

Please be aware that requirements that are unique to particular kinds of organizations, such as listed entities (i.e., public companies) or specialized industries, (such as municipalities and financial institutions), are not specifically covered in the US Content Guide forms. US Content Guide authored by Dr. Mark S. Beasley and Dr. Randy Elder and others is not intended to be a substitute for professional standards and related pronouncements, nor is it a substitute for the practitioner's professional judgment.

The US Content Guide users must perform the following:

• Read the original pronouncements: It is assumed that practitioners have read, and acquired a basic knowledge of the Audit and Attest and Compilation and Review Standards published by AICPA.
• Exercise professional judgement and due diligence in the choice of auditing SaaS platform and any associated third-party content.  Practitioners are solely responsible for choosing any software platforms and for gauging whether these technological and content resources meet their professional engagement needs and any regulatory requirements.
• Exercise professional judgment in each engagement: The practitioner's application of relevant knowledge and experience to the known facts and circumstances of each engagement is a key requirement to ensure informed decisions are made about matters such as determining materiality, identifying the nature and extent of procedures required, evaluating the evidence obtained, and drawing appropriate conclusions.
• Reach Appropriate Conclusions: The practitioner is the party responsible for determining that the engagement is performed in accordance with professional standards and is solely responsible for the overall conclusions reached as part of the audit, review, compilation, or preparation engagement.
• Local laws and professional standards: Before using the US Content Guide forms, the practitioner should ensure that the forms comply with any local laws, professional standards and customize the forms accordingly.

The customizable forms, checklists and sample letters provided as part of US Content Guide and incorporated digitally into the Auvenir Pro Platform are useful practice aids that can save time and money while ensuring completeness and consistency.

These forms are designed for the following purposes:

• To be used by professional staff members who have some understanding of assurance engagements and all relevant professional standards requirements and responsibilities. It is highly recommended that staff members receive some basic training on the relevant professional standards and the use of the forms before commencing work on any engagement.
• To assist in providing structured and systematic documentation of the results of performing assurance procedures. Such documentation helps to facilitate file review, aid in supporting consistent assessment of risks and produce straightforward updates in subsequent years.

These practice aids do not specifically address the following:

• The wide range of circumstances, risk factors or specific industry or unique entity-specific issues that may exist for a particular client or groups of clients, such as those operating in a specialized industry.
• Requirements relating to listed entities (public companies).
• Requirements relating to local laws and professional standards.

The US Content Guide forms should always be customized by the practitioner to address the known facts and circumstances of each individual engagement and to the local laws and professional standards that apply to each such engagement.

"US Content Guide is not intended as a substitute for reading, understanding, and complying with the relevant professional standards of AICPA, nor is it a substitute for the application of professional judgment required by practitioners.”

The content is updated on a periodic basis by the authors and Auvenir Pro will also contain the most up to date version of the US Content Guide for each update.

The US Content Guide is designed to assist practitioners in the implementation of audit standards published by the AICPA for audit engagements, and compilation and review standards for these engagements. The US Content Guide is not intended to be a substitute for the standards.

Practitioners should utilize the US Content Guide in light of their professional judgment and the facts and circumstances involved in each particular engagement. Dr. Mark S. Beasley and Dr. Randy Elder and Beasley Advisory Enterprises and LLC Elder Advisory Services LLC disclaim any responsibility or liability that may occur, directly or indirectly, as a consequence of the use and application of the US Content Guide forms.

Copyright and IP

The Auvenir Pro Platform is copyrighted by Auvenir Technologies ULC and the US Content Guide forms are copyrighted Beasley Advisory Enterprises and LLC Elder Advisory Services LLC and others.  Use of the Auvenir Pro Platform is subject to Auvenir’s SaaS Platform agreement and the end user (sub) license agreement for use of the third party US Content Guide forms. All intellectual property rights in the software and the Auvenir Pro Platform (the Saas Platform) and US Content Guide forms (the content) remain the exclusive property of Auvenir Technologies ULC and Beasley Advisory Enterprises LLC and Elder Advisory Services LLC and others respectively.