Question

Explain the relationships among audit services, attestation services, and assurance services. Give real-world examples of each.

Answer 1

An assurance service is an independent professional service to improve the quality of information for decision makers.

An attestation service is a form of assurance service in which the CPA firm issues a report about the reliability of an assertion that is the responsibility of another party.

Audit services are a form of attestation service in which the auditor expresses a written conclusion about the degree of correspondence between information and established criteria.

The most common form of audit service is an audit of historical financial statements, in which the auditor expresses a conclusion as to whether the financial statements are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.

An example of an attestation service is a report on the effectiveness of an entity’s internal control over financial reporting.

There are many possible forms of assurance services, including services related to business performance measurement, health care performance, and information system reliability