Professional Standards Spotlight: Revisions on SSAE Engagements

PEEC issues clarifications to engagements subject to SSAEs

Most independence interpretations in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct (the Code) have been written from the perspective of performing a financial statement audit or review engagement. However, these interpretations apply to any attest engagement. The AICPA’s Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) has undertaken a project to determine how independence interpretations should be applied when the attest engagement is not a financial statement attest engagement, such as an engagement performed under the Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAEs).

In December 2025, the PEEC adopted clarifying revisions for engagements subject to the SSAEs, representing phase 1 of the project. The most notable of the revisions for State Boards of Accountancy is the new definition of the term period covered by the attest report. The new term will replace the phrase period covered by the financial statements in the Code. The definition provides greater clarity and promotes consistency in application for any attest engagement. The new definition includes several examples to demonstrate that the period covered by an attest report can vary among types of attestation engagements.

During the public comment period for the proposed revisions, NASBA performed a limited review of a sample of state boards’ rules and regulations that are publicly available through their websites. This limited review focused on the use of the phrase period covered by the financial statements and a time/reporting period reference to an attest report.

While there were a few state boards in which the phrase or a time/reporting period to an attest period were referenced, the context of their use was different than the proposed revisions. Therefore, NASBA believes that the change to replace the phrase period covered by the financial statements with the new term period covered by the attest report will not have a significant regulatory impact for state boards.

The revisions are effective for engagements performed in accordance with the SSAEs commencing on or after June 15, 2026, and early implementation is allowed.