Most of the audit engagements performed by certified public accountants (CPAs) for
local auditees 
that report to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA) are required to be performed under
generally accepted government auditing standards .
Audit reports are not the only types of reports that are submitted to LLA (see
What Kind of Report Does My Agency Need to Provide to the Legislative Auditor? ). The engagements for reports that are not audits are performed under different standards.
Review/attestation reports are submitted for those local auditees that receive between $200,000 and $499,999 in revenues and other sources. The review portion of these engagements is performed under
Standards for Accounting and Review Services promulgated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA); the attestation portion is performed under
Standards for Attestation Engagements promulgated by the AICPA.
Government Auditing Standards also apply to review/attestation engagements, and incorporate the AICPA standards by reference.
Compilation reports are submitted for those local auditees that receive between $75,001 and $199,999 in revenues and other sources. They are performed under
Standards for Accounting and Review Services promulgated by the AICPA.
Some local auditees enter into engagements with CPAs to perform agreed-upon procedures engagements, in which the CPA performs tests that are agreed to by the auditee and the CPA. These include the engagements required by
Act 774 of the 2014 Legislative Session. Agreed-upon procedures engagements are performed under
Standards for Attestation Engagements promulgated by the AICPA and
Government Auditing Standards.
QUESTIONS:
Q. Does LLA accept
examination reports?
A. Although examination reports that are performed under
Standards for Attestation Engagements are not provided for in the audit law, LLA accepts examination reports for some types of non-routine engagements. To discuss whether an examination report would be appropriate, please call
LLA’s Engagement Manager .
Q. My CPA firm is on LLA’s approved list. We perform bookkeeping services for the local auditee, and are therefore not independent. May we perform the local auditee’s statutorily required compilation engagement?
A. Generally, performing bookkeeping services for a client impairs the CPA’s independence to the point that the CPA cannot be considered independent toward the client. However, a CPA does not offer any type of assurance in a compilation engagement. Therefore, a CPA may perform a compilation engagement for a local auditee towards which he or she is not independent, provided that the CPA discloses the lack of independence in the compilation report.