Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagement

If a customer or third party is requesting a report of findings based on specific procedures performed on specified subject matter, an Agreed-Upon Procedures Report might be the solution. AT Section 201 / Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements of the AICPA’s Statement on Standards, defines the guidelines for an independent practitioner (the ‘Independent Accountant’) to assist your customer in evaluating subject matter or an assertion as a result of a need of your customer. If your customer requires that findings be independently derived, the services of an Independent Accountant will be required to perform procedures and report the findings. The Independent Accountant and your customer will work together to define procedures to be performed by the Independent Accountant that the customer believes are appropriate. Because the needs of your customer may vary widely, the nature, timing and extent of the agreed-upon procedures may vary as well; consequently, the customer assumes responsibility for the sufficiency of the procedures since they best understand their own requirements. In an engagement performed under this section, the Independent Accountant does not perform an examination or a review and does not provide an opinion or negative assurance. Instead, the Independent Accountant’s Report on Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures will be in the form of procedures and findings.

Agreed-Upon Procedures engagement can be a procedure or procedures specifically identified by your customer based on the services your company provides to them or be based on all or a part of an existing control structure. Two examples of numerous controls structures are the controls found in ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 27799 Health informatics — Information security management in health using ISO/IEC 27002 or URAC (Utilization Review Accreditation Commission) health care accreditation core standards and modules. The subject matter of an Agreed-Upon Procedures engagement may take many different forms and may be as of a specified date or over a specified period.

Who Should Consider an Agreed-Upon Procedures Review?

• Organizations conducting business with one or more third parties that require specific procedures to be performed by an Independent Accountant related to specific subject matter. This subject matter and related procedures must be clearly defined and relatively limited in scope.
• Organizations that are required to obtain an Independent Accountant’s verification regarding specific subject matter that is too narrow to be considered for a SSAE 18 / SOC 1^® or SOC 2^® engagement.
• The third parties that are requesting an Independent Accountant’s verification accepts that an Agreed-Upon Procedure Report meets their requirements and needs.
• Organizations that plan to only distribute the report to the specified third parties.

For More Information Speak to an Independent Accountant at Roosa CPA, LLC (877) 410-8516