Turning up the temperature on auditors

In 2022 — its first full year under a new chair and with an almost completely new set of board members — the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board increased its enforcement activity significantly and levied record-setting penalties of $11 million.

And then in 2023, it broke those records again.

By mid-November it had issued almost $12 million, with more still come.

“Last year through our enforcement program we imposed the highest penalties in PCAOB history against those who put investors at risk,” said Chair Erica Williams during a meeting in mid-November to approve the 2024 budget. “This week we surpassed that record with $11.9 million in penalties against wrongdoers — and the year is not over. Our 2023 penalties are already more than double the total penalties in each of the five years before our record-breaking year in 2022.”

And 2024 looks set to be another strong year for enforcement, with the board planning to review more audit engagements, to expand its inspection procedures, and to get its inspection reports out faster.

To get a sense of its inspection and penalty priorities, consider the following selection of actions from the past year or so: