August 31, 2009 letter commenting on AICPA's Auditing Standards Board (ASB) May 2009 Exposure Draft of Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) on External Confirmations

This letter provides the U.S. Government Accountability Office's (GAO) comments on the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Auditing Standards Board's (ASB) proposed statement on auditing standards. Except for serious concerns about retaining the presumptive requirement to request confirmation of accounts receivable, we support the proposed standard. This concern, along with our comments on other aspects of the proposed standard, is noted below.