The majority of audits required by government entities are governed by the Yellow Book standards. Whether you're a CPA or a government auditor, honing your Yellow Book auditing abilities can help you advance in your career.

You may assure the credibility and validity of your audit reports by completing Yellow Book audit training. Although learning the Yellow Book standards is a challenging and time-consuming job, the appropriate Yellow Book CPE courses can assist you in accomplishing this aim.

In this article, we'll go over all you need to know about Yellow Book auditing and Yellow Book CPE - the best way to improve your auditing abilities.

Yellow Book Auditing

The Yellow Book offers a thorough list of GAGAS (Generally Accepted Government Accounting Standards). The Yellow Book is a set of principles and norms for auditors and audit firms that specifies the features of excellent audit reports, the professional credentials of auditors, and standards for audit quality. You can develop a strong framework to perform audits of all different types of government institutions, as well as entities that have received grants and awards from the government, with the aid of Yellow Book training.

Each year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) publishes the Yellow Book. The most recent significant change took place in 2018. Only technical modifications have been made since then, according to GAO.

Practical Implications

Government auditors depend on the Yellow Book for their job. It contains standards and rules that assist government auditors in holding the organizations accountable. It includes criteria for ethics, independence, professional judgment and competence of auditors, quality control, audit execution, and reporting. The standards guarantee that the disclosed information in an auditor's report has been objectively obtained, examined, and assessed in accordance with the set norms and is beneficial to its readers who count on these audits to make important decisions.

Typically, the Yellow Book covers three different kinds of audits:

Performance Audits: Performance audits are conducted to raise program effectiveness, save costs, and aid in decision-making for companies.

Financial audits: These audits are performed to offer an unbiased assessment of whether the financial data of a particular organization reports and reflects a fair picture in accordance with the established standards.

Engagements for Attestation: It includes a wide spectrum of financial and non-financial objectives. The auditor presents a report on the audit, the review, or the agreed-upon processes.

Yellow Book Audit CPE Requirements

You must get a minimum of 24 Yellow Book CPE credits every two years if you operate as an auditor who follows GAGAS. Your Yellow Book CPE courses must explicitly address the public sector, public sector auditing, or the unique or specific context that applies to the audited entity.

Furthermore, auditors involved in the planning, directing, and reporting of the GAGAS audit must receive an additional 56 hours of CPE yearly in addition to the previously indicated 24 hours of Credits, a total of 80 CPE every two years to improve the auditor's ability to carry out the audit. In this situation, the auditor must obtain 20 hours of CPE for CPA during each of the two years.

Auditors who are required to complete the necessary 80 hours of CPE must fulfill a minimum of 20 hours of CPE in each of the two-year periods. Auditors hired or assigned to GAGAS audits after the commencement of an audit organization's two-year CPE term must fulfill a prorated number of CPE hours.

Who do I report my CPE to?

There is no obligation to declare your Yellow Book CPE credits to any regulating authority. You are not required to submit your CPE credits to the GAO.

Individuals such as the peer reviewer and the internal quality control reviewer, on the other hand, will be interested in whether or not an auditor has met their CPE criteria. This is because they are charged with ensuring that the auditors they appoint to conduct audits are qualified to do so.

The internal quality control reviewer ensures that the auditors obtain the needed Yellow Book CPE, while the external peer reviewer ensures that the auditors keep proper records and follow the rules.

It's worth noting that if you have a professional certification, such as CPA, the certifying authority may require you to disclose your CPE to them on a regular basis. For example, your state board of accounting may require you to annually report your CPE credits. However, your accounting board will not check to see if you satisfy your Yellow Book CPE obligations on time.

Even though you are not required to report your Yellow Book CPE to anybody, it is critical that you maintain all documentation for at least 5 years from the date of completion of the programs. In the event of a random audit, these documents will assist you in asserting that you have diligently met your Yellow Book audit CPE for CPA obligations.

Where can I take Yellow Book CPE courses?

The accounting and auditing CPE courses in the Yellow Book offered by Illumeo can be used to get individual self-study CPE credits. Illumeo's Yellow Book CPE courses will keep you current. Our Yellow Book CPE-covered accounting and auditing courses will keep you up to date on the most recent advancements from the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO). Our Yellow Book CPE Self-Study courses provide you with an overview and a thorough grasp of Yellow Book audits by covering the subject from every possible viewpoint.

Self-Study Yellow Book Packages are another option offered by Illumeo in addition to specific self-study courses on Yellow Book subjects. These packages make it simple to complete the 24-hour Yellow Book requirement.