Wiley Practitioner's Guide to GAAS 2022

55AT-C 206 Direct Examination Engagements

• Technical Alert
• Scope
• Objectives of AT-C 206
• Requirements
  • Acceptance and Continuance of a Direct Examination Engagement
  • Terms of the Engagement
  • Written Representations
  • The Report
• Exhibit—Illustrative Direct Examination Reports

TECHNICAL ALERT

In September 2020, the AICPA Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 21, Direct Examination Engagements. SSAE No. 21 adds a new AT-C section—206, Direct Examination Engagements, to the attestation standards. This new section enables practitioners to perform an examination engagement in which the practitioner obtains reasonable assurance by

• measuring or evaluating underlying subject matter against criteria and
• expressing an opinion that conveys the results of that measurement or evaluation.

SSAE No. 21 also amends AT-C section 105, Concepts Common to All Attestation Engagements, and supersedes AT-C section 205, Assertion-Based Examination Engagements.

New section AT-C 206:

• Enables entities that do not provide an assertion about whether the underlying subject matter is in accordance with the criteria to undergo an examination engagement, thus providing the public with confidence in information about the underlying subject matter. The entity is always required to acknowledge its responsibility for the underlying subject matter.
• Establishes performance requirements for a direct examination based on AT-C 205 in which the practitioner ...