February 2011

The series of posts written on documentation of reviews and comps under SSARS 19 have been combined into a single page.  This means you can read all the posts in chronological order, which means they are in logical order.  Click on the “SSARS 19 documentation requirements” tab above or click here.

SSARS 19 places some limits on how oral explanations can be used as documentation in a review. …

Oral explanations as documentation in a review under SSARS 19Read More »

One creative idea for your documentation – SSARS 19 has a helpful comment that the documentation for a review can rely on documents outside of that particular engagement.

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Documentation for a review can be located outside the review workpapersRead More »

The list of required documentation in the previous posts here and here doesn’t really seem to be a massive expansion of requirements, right?  Obviously the impact will depend on what the level of documentation has been in your firm.  For the firms I’m familiar with, those specifics are not going to open up a lot of new documentation requirements.

There is one place where a lot of firms may need to make a change:

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Documentation of reviews – time to stop saying ‘done’Read More »

Previous post started  a discussion of the specific documentation required for a review.  Here is part 2.

Update – SSARS 19 had been replaced by SSARS 21. The entire body of knowledge has been revised. See:

• Flash update on SSARS #21
• Newly approved SSARS will allow a new service, ‘preparation’. Will also require written & signed engagement letters.
• Sample compilation report under SSARS 21
• Sample accountant’s review report for SSARS 21
• Video overview of SSARS 21
• New risk alerts for 2014/2015 are available

SSARS 19 says the documentation for a review should include (remember should is a loaded word in the SSARS literature):

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Yesterday’s post discussed the overall objective of accumulating documentation for a review.  This post gets into the specific requirements.

SSARS 19 says the documentation accumulated depends on the circumstances.

Update – SSARS 19 had been replaced by SSARS 21. The entire body of knowledge has been revised. See:

• Flash update on SSARS #21
• Newly approved SSARS will allow a new service, ‘preparation’. Will also require written & signed engagement letters.
• Sample compilation report under SSARS 21
• Sample accountant’s review report for SSARS 21
• Video overview of SSARS 21
• New risk alerts for 2014/2015 are available

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Specific required documentation for a review under SSARS 19 – part 1Read More »

I discussed the documentation requirements for compilations previously here and here.  Now it is time to start the discussion of documenting a review.

Our starting point is to address the word should.

Update – SSARS 19 had been replaced by SSARS 21. The entire body of knowledge has been revised. See:

• Flash update on SSARS #21
• Newly approved SSARS will allow a new service, ‘preparation’. Will also require written & signed engagement letters.
• Sample compilation report under SSARS 21
• Sample accountant’s review report for SSARS 21
• Video overview of SSARS 21
• New risk alerts for 2014/2015 are available

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Documentation requirements for a review under SSARS 19Read More »

(cross-posted from Nonprofit Update.)

I have written an on-line CPE course on SSARS called Compilation and Review: Practice Issues.  It is a 3 hour course covering a variety of practice issues for CPAs providing comps and reviews.  It is written at the overview level. 

Arriving soon at the CCH Learning Center.  When it is available on-line, I’ll give more detail and a link to the course.

I wrote the course in a little more casual voice that you might expect to see in a technical class, but not quite as casual as you see on this blog.  If you enjoy the style of writing you see here, you might enjoy the online CPE.

More detail to follow!

UDPATE:  Course now available. See post here.