AICPA releases new quality management standards

The AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board (ASB) and Accounting and Review Services Committee (ARSC) have released four new quality management (QM) standards designed to improve a CPA firm's risk assessment and audit quality. 

The new standards are intended to modernize quality control and reflect new realities in practice, such as an increased emphasis on risk assessment, changes in technology and the growing use of external service providers.

AICPA QM standards

The four standards are:

• Statement on Quality Management Standards (SQMS) No. 1, A Firm's System of Quality Management;
• SQMS No. 2, Engagement Quality Reviews;
• Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 146, Quality Management for an Engagement Conducted in Accordance with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards; and
• Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS) No. 26, Quality Management for an Engagement Conducted in Accordance with Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services.

Effective dates

The new standards are effective December 15, 2025, and the AICPA recommends that firms begin the implementation process now. The standards have been adapted for use by CPA firms in the United States based on the International Auditing and Assurance Standard Board's quality management standards, which take effect December 15, 2022.

“The ASB’s outreach and feedback through the public comment process significantly helped to shape the final standards,” said AICPA Chief Auditor Jennifer Burns. “Importantly, we’ve developed a crosswalk to help firms start the implementation process and understand how they can transition from the current quality control standards to the new quality management standards.”