The Auditing Standards Board (ASB) is responsible for issuing auditing, attestation, and quality control statements, standards and guidance to certified public accountants (CPAs) for non-public company audits. These tasks have been designated to the ASB from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.  As such, the ASB was very instrumental in developing Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 16, which effectively replaced the SAS 70 auditing standard for reporting periods ending on or after June 15, 2011.

Lastly, the ASB was established in 1978 and has been considered a credible and notable entity in developing many of today's accounting standards.

For purposes of SSAE 16 compliance, the following elements are worth noting regarding this new "attest" standard:

•    Management of the service organization will need to develop a description of its "system" along with providing the service auditor with a written statement of assertion.
•    The SSAE 16 standard is part of a broader, new reporting framework developed by the AICPA known as Service Organization Control (SOC) reporting, for which service organizations can opt for SOC 1, SOC 2, and/or SOC 3 reporting.
•    SSAE 16 reporting is specifically geared towards service organizations who have a true and credible link or "nexus" to the internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) concept.  Thus, for service organizations, such as cloud computing entities, Software as a Service Providers (SaaS) and other technology related organizations, SOC 2 reports under the AT Section 101 professional standard are to be issued.
Visit the SSAE 16 Resource Guide to learn more about SSAE 16 compliance.  Furthermore, if you are seeking a competitive, fixed-fee for an SSAE 16 engagement, contact NDNB Accountants & Consultants at 1-800-277-5415, ext. 706.  NDNB is a nationally recognized, boutique CPA firm specializing in regulatory compliance.