Assurance service opportunities: Implications for academia

The market for audits has been flat for a number of years with no clear prospect of a turnaround. The AICPA's Special Committee on Assurance Services publicized that fact and responded by identifying new services and recommending processes for the ongoing identification and development of additional services. New assurance services are coming to the marketplace. The Special Committee identified some; the AICPA's new Assurance Services Executive Committee is developing them and will be identifying and developing others on into the future. New services cannot be provided without sufficient competencies. In some cases, existing competencies can be applied to new services without any sacrifice in needed proficiency. In other cases, it will be extraordinarily difficult to train people to perform the services unless they have the background that permits them to benefit from training in a nontraditional service - background they can obtain most efficiently in their higher education.