Comprehensive Proposal Updates Baseline Standards and Addresses Sustainability and Other Emerging Assurance Areas
NEW YORK (Feb. 5, 2026) – The Auditing Standards Board, a key standard-setting body of the American Institute of CPAs, has voted to seek public comment on proposed updates to attestation standards, in part to address sustainability information and other emerging areas of assurance.
An exposure draft of the proposed changes is expected to be available online on Feb. 26, with a comment period to be determined later (but which will end no less than 120 days after the document’s publication date).
The proposed changes reflect the ongoing evolution in attestation services, in which practitioners are increasingly asked to provide services beyond audits of the financial statements, such as in the areas of sustainability, digital assets, cybersecurity, governance and related controls. The exposure draft consists of two main parts:
Updates to the baseline attestation standards to address evolving practice,
Two new AT-C sections related to engagements to report on sustainability information.
Adoption of the updates is expected to occur next year, pending revisions after the comment period and further deliberation by the Auditing Standards Board. The exposure draft, once published, can be found on the AICPA’s resource page for comments on standards proposals.