Peer Review and QCM: Update

Quality Control Materials (QCM) Descriptions

The AICPA defines quality control materials (QCM) as materials, such as manuals or tools, intended to enable the operation of a firm's system of quality management and promote consistency in performing quality engagements. Since May 2022 the AICPA no longer accepts QCM reviews; a QCM provider instead publishes a Description of its materials prepared under the AICPA QCM Description Criteria, and may engage a CPA firm to examine the materials and the Description under the attestation standards against the AICPA QCM Content Criteria.

Each Description states what the program covers, the standards it addresses and the date through which it addresses them, the standards issued but not yet effective and how they are treated, the provider's update policy, and the responsibilities that remain with the user firm. The Non-public Company 2027 program is the first AuditFile program built to these criteria: every category, section, and step cites the professional standard it reproduces or derives from, and every step is labeled as a requirement, application material, AuditFile practice guidance, or generally accepted practice. A QCM examination of that program by an independent CPA firm is planned once the Description is finalized; this page will link the examination report when it is issued.

History

The Wiley Advantage Audit materials on which AuditFile's Advantage Audit programs through the 2026 editions were based received a rating of pass in the AICPA Peer Review Program QCM review conducted by Buchbinder Tunick & Company LLP, reported May 7, 2018 and accepted by the National Peer Review Committee on May 10, 2018 (report). Guidance on performing and reporting on QCM reviews was eliminated from peer review guidance by the AICPA as noted in the May 2022 Reviewer Alert , which replaced QCM reviews with QCM examinations (AICPA introduction to QCM examinations). The 2018 review therefore describes a discontinued review type and materials that the 2027 program does not reproduce.

Program editions before 2027 documented their scope and the standards addressed in per-edition user instructions available inside each engagement ("About"). The 2025 programs were updated for pronouncements effective for periods ending on or before December 31, 2024; the 2026 programs for pronouncements through SAS No. 149 as then effective.

The May 2022 Reviewer Alert also describes how a firm may evaluate QCM on its own:
A firm may perform its own measurement and evaluation of its QCM by reading the content of the QCM; comparing the QCM content to the relevant standards and interpretive guidance; comparing the relevant standards and interpretive guidance to the QCM content; and testing the QCM content by assuming a set of conditions and applying the QCM content to that set of conditions. Finally, a firm could consider the QCM provider’s experience in the industry and reputation in the market, consult with peers about the QCM, and consider the firm’s previous experience using the QCM.
The citations, content-type labels, coverage matrix, and Description published with the Non-public Company 2027 program are designed to make that evaluation, and a peer reviewer's, straightforward.

We continuously monitor changes to both the peer review process and the auditing standards and will update this page as the examination progresses. Contact the AuditFile team anytime at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.

Thanks,
The AuditFile Team