The PCAOB's headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Regional offices in 2005 were in eight locations: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, New York, Northern Virginia, Orange County (California), and San Francisco.
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was created in 2002.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is a non-profit, private company which was created to oversee the auditors of public companies. Their main purpose is to ensure that audit reports are accurate and fair in order to protect investors of public companies.
The SEC has delegated the oversight of external auditors to the newly created Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).
In Canada, the Canadian Public Accountability Board. In the USA, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
The total number of staff at the end of 2004 was 260.
PCOAB Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is a nonprofit organization established by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to oversee the audits of public companies in the United States. Its primary mission is to protect investors by ensuring the accuracy and reliability of financial reporting. The PCAOB sets auditing standards, inspects audit firms, and enforces compliance with its rules and regulations. By promoting high-quality auditing practices, the PCAOB aims to enhance public confidence in the financial markets.
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)
Public Accounting: Best known for providing audits, CPAs who work in public accounting review company financial records for accuracy and accountability.
Public accounting includes any accounting work that a company performs for another company. Examples would be audits, tax compliance, consulting, etc. The "Big 4" (KPMG, Deloitte & Touche, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Ernst & Young) are the dominant firms that provide public accounting services. Private accounting is accounting work that is done for your own company. Every company has some form of an internal accounting department and those employees would be considered private accountants.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, enacted in 2002 in the United States, was designed to enhance corporate governance and financial reporting standards in response to major accounting scandals, such as Enron and WorldCom. It established stricter regulations for public companies, including requirements for accurate financial disclosures, increased accountability for corporate executives, and the creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to oversee auditing practices. The act aims to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures.
Accounting is political in nature as final information from accounting reports has impact on the general public, whether it be a public or private company.