The CAQ Approach to Audit Quality Indicators

Released in April 2014, the CAQ Approach to Audit Quality Indicators represents a two-year effort by the Center for Audit Quality, with its member firms, to develop perspectives regarding which indicators of audit quality may be most relevant and how and to whom they should be communicated. The indicators represent four thematic elements of audit quality: firm leadership and tone at the top; engagement team knowledge, experience, and workload; monitoring; and auditor reporting. The paper sets forth in detail the set of potential indicators that are mostly focused at the engagement-level, an approach to communicating them that it is aimed at discussions between the engagement team and the audit committee, and the CAQ’s plan to pilot test these indicators by member firms with select audit committees.