Let's change GAAS!!! ???*&#@;

              7
Let's Change GAAS!!! ??? *&#" @
Robert Mednick*
Arthur Andersen & Co.
Alan J. Winters*
Louisiana State University
How strange that when we hurl a man into the future, we take few pains to protect him from the shock of change.
Alvin Toffler Future Shock
This paper is about change, and change is almost always resisted and often controversial. We believe that this is as it should be. Proposed changes should not be blindly accepted nor casually dismissed. Rather, they should be exposed for careful evaluation, critical debate, and, we hope, constructive criticism. Consistent with that belief, we propose that the ten generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS)* be changed to prepare the auditor for the future and to provide some protection from the shock of the changes that future will bring. We think that this future has already struck auditing practice and is sending tremors through its bedrock—GAAS. Our proposal explains why change is necessary, what the change should be, and how it might be implemented.
Why Change GAAS?
Proposing to change GAAS (as the title punctuation suggests) is likely to trigger varying reactions ranging from heated criticism to enthusiastic endorse­ment.
Just where one falls on this continuum is determined by how strongly one agrees with the following views: (1) GAAS continue to provide an ample foundation for guidance on today's audit-related services, (2) audit services not contemplated by GAAS are improper and should be prohibited, and (3) GAAS are sacrosanct, i.e., standards by their nature are (or should be) immutable.
Those at one extreme of the continuum find changing the ten generally accepted auditing standards repugnant and adhere tenaciously to one or more
* The authors are members of the Auditing Standards Board's Levels of Assurance Task Force.
Although some of the views the authors express in this paper were inevitably influenced by their
involvement with the task force, these views do not necessarily represent those of the task force,
Auditing Standards Board, or AICPA.
* Throughout the paper our use of the term "GAAS" is intended to refer only to the ten generally
accepted auditing standards. If the term is used in one of its broader connotations such as the ten
standards and the SASs, or the ten standards, SASs, and customs of auditing practice, it will be
specifically noted in the paper.
163