September 3, 2003, letter commenting on the AICPA's May 30, 2003, Exposure Draft of Proposed Revisions to the AICPA Standards for Performing and Reporting on Peer Reviews

This letter provides the U.S. General Accounting Office's (GAO) comments on the AICPA's May 30, 2003, exposure draft of proposed revisions to the AICPA Standards for Performing and Reporting on Peer Reviews (Standards) and Interpretations to the Standards. We commend the AICPA's efforts to reevaluate the administration, performance, reporting objectives, and overall effectiveness of peer reviews conducted under the AICPA Standards. We support the AICPA's goal of designing, implementing, and maintaining a preeminent program that monitors the quality of an audit organization's accounting and auditing practice, and we are especially pleased that the proposed standards (1) clearly identify audit organization and peer reviewer responsibilities during peer review, and (2) require that individuals serving on peer review teams meet certain qualifications and conditions.