The Securities and Exchange Commission recently voted to exempt many smaller public companies from the Sarbanes-Oxley requirement for auditor attestations of their internal controls over financial reporting, but many companies have been able to bypass those audits anyway.
COVID-19 has created the largest health and economic crisis in decades.
Existing general auditing standards can and should be complied with, despite difficulties.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is giving firms a pause until May 11, given the difficulties businesses are facing from COVID-19.
Officials and employees are working from home and doing inspections of U.S. audit firms remotely to protect them from infection.
Leaders of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board issued a joint statement Wednesday about the impact of the coronavirus on audit firms trying to operate in China.
The Financial Reporting Council issued guidance Tuesday about the disclosure of risks surrounding the coronavirus, and is discussing with audit firms whether the virus will affect their ability to review audits in China.