A SURVEY OF ATTESTATION PRACTICES

Attestation services, provisions of assurance on assertions other than those in historical financial statements, represent a recently formal ized area of accounting practice. This exploratory study surveys AICPA professionals in public accounting to identify the nature and extent of attestation services currently being provided and expected to be pr ovided in the future. It also investigates the association of office/f irm characteristics with performing these services. The study finds th e attestation services being performed are concentrated in areas addre ssed by specific professional standards. The majority of assertions be ing attested to are financial in nature, and the most common basis for assurance is agreed-upon procedures. Logistic regression findings sug gest practices with greater auditing expertise and practices which are part of larger firms are more likely to be involved in performing att est services. The respondents expect attestation services to continue expanding as a percentage of their offices' practices, particularly in to non-traditional attest areas.