# Statements on Auditing Procedure

Statements on Auditing Procedure were issued by the Committee on Auditing Procedure of AICPA from 1939 to 1972. The Committee issued 54 SAPs before it became the Auditing Standards Executive Committee (AcSEC) and began issuing Statements on Auditing Standards.Statement on Auditing Standards No. 1 summarized and superseded the 54 SAPs.

## List of Statements on Auditing Procedure

| No. | Official title | Issued on |
| 1 | Extensions of auditing procedure full-text | 1939 October |
| 2 | Auditor's opinion on the basis of a restricted examination full-text | 1939 December |
| 3 | Inventories and receivables of department stores, instalment houses, chain stores, and other retailers full-text | 1940 February |
| 4 | Clients' written representations regarding inventories, liabilities, and other matters full-text | 1941 March |
| 5 | Revised S.E.C. rule on "accountants' certificates" full-text | 1941 February |
| 6 | Revised S.E.C. rule on "accountants' certificates"(continued) full-text | 1941 March |
| 7 | Contingency liability under policies with mutual insurance companies full-text | 1941 March |
| 8 | Interim financial statements and the auditor's report thereon full-text | 1941 September |
| 9 | Accountants' reports on examinations of securities and similar investments under the Investment Company Act full-text | 1941 December |
| 10 | Auditing under wartime conditions full-text | 1942 June |
| 11 | Auditor's opinion on the basis of a restricted examination : (no. 2) full-text | 1942 September |
| 12 | Amendment to Extensions of auditing procedure full-text | 1942 October |
| 13 | Auditor's opinion on the basis of a restricted examination, (no. 3); face-amount certificate companies full-text | 1942 December |
| 14 | Confirmation of public utility accounts receivable full-text | 1942 December |
| 15 | Disclosure of the effect of wartime uncertainties on financial statements full-text | 1942 December |
| 16 | Case studies on inventories full-text | 1942 December |
| 17 | Physical inventories in wartime full-text | 1942 December |
| 18 | Confirmation of receivables from the government full-text | 1943 January |
| 19 | Confirmation of receivables : (positive and negative methods) full-text | 1943 November |
| 20 | Termination of fixed-price supply contracts; Examination of contractors' statements of proposed settlements full-text | 1943 December |
| 21 | Wartime government regulations full-text | 1944 July |
| 22 | References to the independent accountant in securities registrations full-text | 1945 May |
| 23 | Clarification of accountant's report when opinion is omitted full-text | 1947 December |
| 23 revised | Clarification of accountant's report when opinion is omitted full-text | 1949 December |
| 24 | Revision in short-form accountant's report or certificate full-text | 1948 October |
| 25 | Events subsequent to the date of financial statements full-text | 1954 October |
| 26 | Reporting on use of "other procedures." full-text | 1956 April |
| 27 | Long-form reports full-text | 1957 July |
| 28 | Special reports (applicability of reporting standards in special circumstances) full-text | 1957 October |
| 29 | Scope of the independent auditor's review of internal control full-text | 1958 October |
| 30 | Responsibilities and functions of the independent auditor in the examination of financial statements full-text | 1960 September |
| 31 | Consistency full-text | 1961 October |
| 32 | Qualifications and disclaimers (clarification of reporting standards) full-text | 1962 September |
| 33 | Auditing standards and procedures full-text | 1963 |
| 34 | Long-term investments full-text | 1965 September |
| 35 | Letters for underwriters full-text | 1965 November |
| 36 | Revision of "Extensions of auditing procedure" relating to inventories full-text | 1966 August |
| 37 | Special report : public warehouses : controls and auditing procedures for goods held full-text | 1966 September |
| 38 | Unaudited financial statements full-text | 1967 September |
| 39 | Working papers full-text | 1967 September |
| 40 | Reports following a pooling of interests (supersedes paragraphs 35 and 36 of chapter 8 of Statements on auditing procedure no. 33) full-text | 1968 October |
| 41 | Subsequent discovery of facts existing at the date of the auditor's report full-text | 1969 October |
| 42 | Reporting when a certified public accountant is not independent full-text | 1970 January |
| 43 | Confirmation of receivables and observation of inventories (supersedes paragraphs 16-20 of chapter 6 and paragraphs 27-29 of chapter 10 of Statement on auditing procedure no. 33, and Statement on auditing procedure no. 36) full-text | 1970 September |
| 44 | Reports following a pooling of interests (supersedes Statement on auditing procedure no. 40) full-text | 1971 April |
| 45 | Using the work and reports of other auditors (supersedes paragraphs 32 and 36 of chapter 10 of Statement on auditing procedure no. 33) full-text | 1971 July |
| 46 | Piecemeal opinions (supersedes paragraphs 22-25 of chapter 10 of Statement on auditing procedure no. 33 and pertinent portions of paragraph 9 of Statement on auditing procedure no. 34) full-text | 1971 July |
| 47 | Subsequent events (supersedes chapter 11 of Statement on auditing procedure no. 33) full-text | 1971 September |
| 48 | Letters for underwriters (supersedes Statement on auditing procedure no. 35) full-text | 1971 October |
| 49 | Reports on internal control full-text | 1971 November |
| 50 | Reporting on the statement of changes in financial position (supersedes paragraph 6 of chapter 10 of Statement on auditing procedure no. 33) full-text | 1971 November |
| 51 | Long-term investments full-text | 1972 July |
| 52 | Reports on internal control based on criteria established by governmental agencies full-text | 1972 October |
| 53 | Reporting on consistency and accounting changes (supersedes chapter 8 of statement on auditing procedure no. 33) full-text | 1972 November |
| 54 | Auditor's study and evaluation of internal control (supersedes chapter 5 of statement on auditing procedure no. 33) full-text | 1972 November |

## History of Statements on Auditing Procedure

The history of the Statements on Auditing Procedures began in 1917 when the American Institute of Accountants (the predecessor organization for the AICPA) was asked by the Federal Trade Commission to prepare a "memorandum on-balance-sheet audits." The resulting document was published in the April 1917 issue of the Federal Reserve Bulletin and reissued in 1918 as a pamphlet. In 1929 the pamphlet was again revised. A third revision was done in 1936.
The Institute determined that, rather than reissuing the 1936 pamphlet, it would, through the Committee on Auditing Procedure, issue Statements on Auditing Procedure that modified and superseded parts of the 1936 pamphlet. The SAPs were "designed to guide the auditor in those areas of specific situations encountered in practice in which he must exercise judgment, situations outside the realm of textbooks, whose function is inherently to describe procedures in general." By 1948, the 1936 pamphlet was considered so out-of-date that it was withdrawn from publication.
In 1951, the first 24 Statements on Auditing Procedure were codified The Codification also contains a summary history of the process of standardizing auditing practice up to 1951 (see pp. 5–8).
In 1954, the Committee on Auditing Procedure finished work on the booklet Generally Accepted Auditing Standards: Their Significance and Scope. This publication responded to the Securities and Exchange Commission's recommendation that the auditor's report make a representation as to compliance with generally accepted auditing standards.
Statement on Procedure no. 33 again codified previous Committee on Auditing Procedure publications, including the 1951 Codification, The 1954 Generally Accepted Auditing Standards, and Statements on Auditing Procedure 25-32.
The final publication of the Committee on Auditing Procedure, Codification of Auditing Standards and Procedures 1, superseded SAPs 33-54. The Statement is now known as Statement on Auditing Standards, no. 1, and began a series of Statements on Auditing Standards (SASs) that are still being issued by the Auditing Standards Board. See Statements on Auditing Standards (USA). Beginning in 1976, these Standards were codified annually as section AU of the AICPA's Professional Standards.