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![handle is hein.gao/gaobaeaoh0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
GA U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
441 G St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20548
January 31, 2020
Ms. Sherry Hazel
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
1345 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019
GAO's Response to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Auditing
Standards Board's November 2019 Consultation Paper, Proposed Strategy and Work
Plan
Dear Ms. Hazel:
This letter provides GAO's response to the Auditing Standards Board's (ASB) consultation
paper, Proposed Strategy and Work Plan. GAO promulgates generally accepted government
auditing standards (GAGAS), which provide professional standards for auditors of government
entities in the United States.
As the supreme audit institution for the United States as well as an auditing standard-setting
organization, GAO is committed to supporting the public interest and the interest of the public
sector auditing community.
Response to Request for Comments
The ASB asked respondents to comment on the following:
1. [Do] you agree with Our mission and keys to our success (see page 4), as well as
the Factors driving our strategy (see page 5)?
We generally agree with the ASB's articulated mission and keys to success.
With respect to the section Factors driving our strategy, we identified several factors that
align with GAO's work in the context of our role in the governmental auditing community.
* Increasing complexity and its implications: the ASB observes that increasing complexity
of financial reporting standards raises concerns about the scalability of auditing and
attestation standards to engagements for less complex entities. GAO shares this
concern with respect to importance of scalability of standards for less complex entities,
such as small governmental entities.
* Changing information needs of users: the ASB notes the evolution of external reporting
in response to report users' interest in information beyond financial statements. In
issuing the 2018 revision of Government Auditing Standards, which includes updated
performance audit standards reflecting new considerations for internal control, GAO has
broadened the framework for performance audits to address the demand for an
increasingly diverse range of audit objectives.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.gao/gaobaeaoh0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)