What time frame is used for engagements in a peer review? Getting started on a peer review, part 5

You will have a particular date as the cut off for your peer review. This determines what is included in the population for selecting engagements to review.

A common misunderstanding is to think that the population for selection is those engagements issued during the peer review year.

Actually, it is the client’s fiscal year-end that determines what is covered. You will need to accumulate a list of clients whose year-end was within your peer review year.

That’s easy for audits, compilations, and reviews. What about projects under the SSAE rules? For those engagements it is the report issue date that determines what is included within your peer review year.

This is a bit confusing and there are some unexpected implications. Talk it through with your peer reviewer to make sure your list of A&A clients has the correct cutoff.

This has a big impact for CPA firms with clients with pension plans or NPOs with single audits. Timing gets complicated for those engagements.

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