Comparative Financial Statements After SSARS No. 19

As you are aware, SSARS No. 19, Compilation and Review Engagements was effective for compilations and reviews of financial statements for period ending on or after December 15, 2010. Since SSARS No. 19 revised the reporting requirements for compilation and review engagements accountants have questioned how they should report when comparative financial statements are presented and the prior year compilation or review was not performed in accordance with SSARS No. 19.

The AICPA has issued guidance on how to handle this question in an article entitled Reporting on Compiled or Reviewed Financial Statements For Periods Ended on or After December 15, 2010 With Comparative Financial Statements For Periods Ended Before December 15, 2010.

AR section 200, Reporting on Comparative Financial Statements has been revised to reflect conforming changes necessary due to the issuance of SSARS No. 19. The reissuance of a prior year report on financial statements that the accountant compiled or reviewed in accordance with pre SSARS No. 19 literature is not a compilation or review of those financial statements. It is the reissuance of a report on a service previously performed and reported on. Therefore the accountant may use the SSARS No. 19 reporting format to reissue his or her prior year report. He or she does not have to reissue the report using the pre SSARS No. 19 report format.

Guidance from the AICPA contains examples of compilation and review reports on comparative financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009.

In addition to the above guidance, the AICPA also offers additional implementation guidance and training on SSARS No. 19, including:
Compilation and Review Engagements Guide
Compilation and Review Developments - Risk Alert
Personal Financial Statements Exhibit Companion to SSARS No. 19

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