Coming soon to a financial statement near you: CAMs! Late this
summer, in audit reports for large accelerated filers with June 30
fiscal year ends, auditors will begin to disclose "critical
audit matters." Under the new auditing standard for the auditor's
report (AS 3101), CAMs are defined as "matters communicated or
required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1)
relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the
financial statements; and (2) involved especially challenging,
subjective, or complex auditor judgment." Essentially, the
concept is intended to capture the matters that kept the auditor up
at night, so long as they meet the standard's criteria.
Compliance will be required for audits of large accelerated filers
for fiscal years ending on or after June 30, 2019, and for audits
of all other companies to which the requirement apply (not EGCs)
for fiscal years ending on or after December 15, 2020. With that in
mind, the PCAOB has released
