52:18-47 Duties of CPA relative to preparation of audit report.

8. For any audit report for which a financial statement shall have been filed under section 3 of this act, an independent certified public accountant shall:

a. prepare, and retain for a period of not less than seven years, audit work papers, and other information related to the audit report, in sufficient detail to support the conclusions reached in the report;

b. provide a concurring or second partner review and approval of the audit report and other related information, and concurring approval in its issuance, by a qualified person associated with the public accounting firm, other than the person in charge of the audit, or by an independent reviewer;

c. describe in the audit report the scope of the auditor's testing of the internal control structure and procedures of the business, and present in such report or in a separate report:

(1) the findings of the auditor from such testing;

(2) an evaluation of whether such internal control structure and procedures:

(a) include maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the business;

(b) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the business are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the business; and

(3) a description, at a minimum, of material weaknesses in such internal controls, and of any material noncompliance found on the basis of such testing;

d. provide a statement to the public entity that, contemporaneously with the audit:

(1) the auditor has not provided the business any non-audit service, including any bookkeeping or other services related to the accounting records or financial statements of the business;

(2) the lead or coordinating audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit, or the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit, has not performed audit services for that business in each of the five previous fiscal years of that business;

(3) the auditor has provided a timely report to the audit committee of the business stating that:

(a) all critical accounting policies and practices were used;

(b) all alternative treatments of financial information within generally accepted accounting principles have been discussed with management officials of the business, the ramifications of the use of such alternative disclosures and treatments, and the treatment preferred by the registered public accounting firm;

(c) other material written communications between the registered public accounting firm and the management of the business, such as any management letter or schedule of unadjusted differences, were reported to the business; and

(d) concerning any audit service conducted under this section, whether a chief executive officer, controller, chief financial officer, chief accounting officer, or any person serving in an equivalent position for the business, was employed by that registered independent public accounting firm and participated in any capacity in the audit of that business during the one-year period preceding the date of the initiation of the audit; and

e. present the financial information included in any such financial statement in a manner that:

(1) does not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit a material fact necessary in order to make the pro forma financial information, in light of the circumstances under which it is presented, not misleading; and

(2) reconciles it with the financial condition and results of operations of the business under generally accepted accounting principles.

L.2009, c.136, s.8.