| Agreed-upon procedures | An attestation engagement in which the CPAs agree to perform specific procedures for a specified party or parties and issue a report that expresses the CPAs' findings. The report is restricted to use by the specified party or parties.
|
 |
|
|
| Assertion | An assertion is a declaration about whether subject matter is presented in accordance with certain criteria.
|
|
|
|
| Assurance services | Professional services that improve the quality of information, or its context, for decision makers. Many assurance services involve some form of attestation.
|
|
|
|
| Attestation engagement | Providing assurance as to whether some subject matter, or an assertion about the subject matter, is in accordance with suitable criteria.
|
|
|
|
| Attestation risk | The risk that the practitioners will issue an unmodified report on subject matter that is materially misstated.
|
|
|
|
| Balanced scorecard | A management report that measures performance in relation to the following dimensions: financial, internal operations, innovation and learning, and customer perspectives.
|
|
|
|
| Continuous auditing | To provide assurance using a series of reports provided simultaneously or shortly after the related information is released.
|
|
|
|
| Control criteria | The suitable criteria required to be followed by a company requesting a CPA's report on the effectiveness of internal control, most commonly the Internal Control–Integrated Framework, developed by COSO.
|
|
|
|
| CPA Performance View | Services to help clients track success using a variety of financial and nonfinancial measures.
|
|
|
|
| CPA Risk Advisory Services | Services intended to help organizations manage risk—the chance of something happening that will have an impact on the organization's objectives.
|
|
|
|
| ElderCare/PrimePlus services | Services to help older Americans maintain, for as long as possible, their lifestyle and financial independence.
|
|
|
|
| Examination | An attestation engagement designed to provide the highest level of assurance that CPAs provide on subject matter or an assertion about subject matter. An examination of financial statements is referred to as an audit.
|
|
|
|
| Financial forecast | Prospective financial statements that present an entity's expected financial position, results of operations, and cash flows for one or more future periods.
|
|
|
|
| Financial projection | Prospective financial statements that present expected results, given one or more hypothetical assumptions.
|
|
|
|
| Limited assurance (negative assurance) | The level of assurance provided by CPAs who have performed a review of subject matter. Provides substantially less assurance than the reasonable assurance provided by an examination.
|
|
|
|
| Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) | Management's discussion of the company's operating results, liquidity, and financial position that is required in the regular financial statement filings with the SEC. CPAs may examine or review this information. However, if the information is reviewed, the report must be restricted as to its use.
|
|
|
|
| Negative assurance | See limited assurance.
|
|
|
|
| Review | An engagement designed to provide only a limited (moderate) degree of assurance about the conformance of subject matter, or an assertion about subject matter, with suitable criteria.
|
|
|
|
| Subject matter | The underlying topic of the engagement. For example, subject matter may be prospective financial information or internal control.
|
|
|
|
| Suitable criteria | Criteria that are objective and permit reasonably consistent measurement.
|
|
|
|
| SysTrust | A Trust Service developed by the AICPA and CICA to provide assurance about the reliability of systems other than electronic commerce systems.
|
|
|
|
| Trust Services | Engagements that provide assurance on systems. Trust Services provide assurance on one or more of the following Trust Principles: (1) Security, (2) Availability, (3) Processing integrity, (4) Online privacy, and (5) Confidentiality. Currently, two services have been developed. WebTrust provides assurance on electronic commerce systems; SysTrust provides assurance on other systems.
|
|
|
|
| WebTrust | A Trust Service developed by the AICPA and CICA to provide assurance on electronic commerce systems.
|