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A88280 1 (2009-05-29)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadvud0001 and id is 1 raw text is: A 0 .,! = Accountability * Integrity Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 May 29, 2009 Ms. Sherry Hazel Audit and Attest Standards American Institute of Certified Public Accountants 1211 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10036-8775 Subject: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Auditing Standards Board (ASB) February 2009 Exposure Draft for a proposed Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS), entitled Audit Sampling (Redrafted). This letter provides the U.S. Government Accountability Office's (GAO) comments on the ASB's proposed SAS on audit sampling. Generally, we support the proposed statement and agree that in most cases the standard appropriately discusses important considerations related to auditor use of audit sampling. The Board has requested comments on the wording of paragraph A17 of the proposed SAS, specifically on the Board's decision to not discuss block sampling as a selection technique in the proposed standard. We agree with the Board's treatment of paragraph A17 in suggesting that only haphazard and random based sample selection methods are appropriate methods for selecting a nonstatistical sample. Block sampling techniques are unlikely to result in a sample that is representative of the population being tested; accordingly, we support the decision to not expand the guidance in paragraph A17 to include block sampling. Our comments on changes resulting from applying the clarity drafting conventions and from converging with International Standard on Auditing (ISA) No. 530, Audit Sampling, along with other suggestions for improving the proposed standard are detailed below. Responses to Questions on Application of the Clarity Conventions and Converging with International Standards on Auditing (1) We believe that the objectives stated in the proposed SAS to be achieved by the auditor are appropriate. (2) We agree with the revisions made to the existing standard to converge with the ISA and believe they are appropriate. (3) We agree with the differences between the proposed SAS and ISA 530.

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