To strengthen the audit committee's practices, directors should monitor changes and challenges that may impact the committee's agenda. DirectorConnect has identified the following audit committee-specific publications, related key issues and thought leadership to help committee members stay informed, ask the right questions, provide appropriate advice and devote time to other important responsibilities.

Canada: Achieving Audit Committee Effectiveness
Sarbanes-Oxley, Bill 198 and other regulatory changes have put tremendous demands on audit committees. They must learn how to work smarter and to allow enough time to complete their ever-lengthening list of duties, according to a new PwC study.

Canada: Audit Committee Effectiveness: What Works Best
Audit committees must learn how to work smarter and to allow enough time to complete their ever-lengthening list of duties, according to this PwC study.

US: Current developments for audit committees
This update informs audit committee members on current business and regulatory developments affecting their responsibilities.

US: Working guide for an investment company's audit committee
The guide reflects the changes to the audit committee responsibilities stemming from SOX and compliance program rules or registered investment companies and investment advisers.

US: 2008 Year End Questions Audit Committee Members should be asking
This publication includes questions considered particularly worthy of audit committee members' focus during the 2008 reporting cycle given the current economic environment. The questions are intended to be in addition to the questions the audit committee routinely asks management and the auditors and cover fair value measurement, other-than-temporary impairment, goodwill impairment, disclosure, risk, going concern and M&A, among others.

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Audit committees should understand the differences between Canadian GAAP and IFRS and the new standard's impact on the entire organization, the industry in which it operates, and its stakeholders. These publications can help members with their decision-making.

US: 10Minutes on the emerging influence of IFRS
IFRS is already affecting US companies, with the impact broadening considerably over the next few years as ongoing convergence of US GAAP and IFRS brings key financial reporting changes and numerous business implications. Companies are also feeling the indirect effect of IFRS adoption by their foreign subsidiaries and counterparties, particularly in customer and vendor transactions. To take these developments in stride, companies must assess where IFRS intersects with their financial reporting and business decisions, both here and around the globe.

Canada: IFRS in Motion: Keeping on Track
This PricewaterhouseCoopers publication provides an overview of the key strategies common among companies that have successfully converted to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Canada: Putting IFRS in Motion: Key accounting issues for pharmaceuticals and life sciences companies
The following publication discusses the key accounting issues relevant to pharmaceutical and life sciences companies as they make their conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards.

Canada: Getting Ready for IFRS: What Directors Need to Know
Boards need to strategize and address the implications of IFRS conversion for their organizations.

Canada: Putting IFRS in motion: Are you on track?
This publication provides companies with an understanding of the background and context behind the decision to adopt IFRS and the key strategic issues they'll face when migrating.

Canada: Financial Reporting Release, January 2009
In this issue: The Future of Canadian GAAP, The Future of Canadian GAAP – NPOs, The Future of US GAAP, Fair Value Accounting, Asset Impairment, Derecognition and Consolidation, Impact of Current Market Conditions on Disclosure, Discontinued Operations, Earnings Per Share, Revenue Recognition, Financial Statement Presentation, Financial Instruments – Canadian Private Enterprises, Emerging Issues Committee Abstracts.

Global: A practical guide to new IFRSs for 2009
This 48-page guide provides a high-level outline of the key requirements of new IFRS standards and interpretations that come into effect in 2009, in question and answer format.

Canada: Financial Reporting newsletters
A regular newsletter that provides updates to international and national auditing standards.

Internal audit

Part of the audit committee's role includes identifying chief risks and the risk management policy. Since internal audit plays a key role in both areas, directors should ensure the function’s effectiveness by understanding its contribution.

Canada: A New Strategic Position - Redefining Internal Audit in an Economic Downturn
This paper discusses how the financial crisis is shifting the focus on internal audit from regulatory compliance to managing operations and risks more effectively.

US: 2008 State of the internal audit profession study
This fourth annual report captures the current view of the internal audit profession.

Canada: Audit Committee Effectiveness – What Works Best
Audit committees must learn how to work smarter and allow enough time to complete their ever-lengthening list of duties, according to this PwC study.

Canada: Global Best Practices
This PwC Canada service will help achieve a company's operational excellence by sharing process-level best practices and benchmarking tools that have been implemented and proven at many of the world’s leading companies.

US: An opportunity for transformation: How internal audit helps contribute to shareholder value
This PwC whitepaper examines key topics for internal audit transformation.

US: Internal audit 2012
This PwC US survey shares a composite picture of internal audit by 2012.

Incident reporting provisions and fraud risk assessment

Businesses can't afford economic crime's growing impact. Audit committees should proactively establish, oversee and re-evaluate their anti-fraud regime.

Global: Economic crime: People, culture and controls
According to this international survey, no industry is immune from the economic crime's risks.

Global: Confronting corruption*
This report examines what companies are currently doing to manage the risk of corruption and the steps they can consider to better protect themselves.

Financial instruments

Measuring financial instruments presents significant complexity for audit committees. To simplify the confusion, they must fully understand their options, their impact on financial statements and create implementation policies.

US: Marking to market: How far is far enough?
This publication voices PwC’s point of view on the use of fair value as a measurement.

Global: Can financial instrument accounting be simplified?
This discussion paper accesses the practical implications of the IASB's discussion paper Reducing complexity in reporting financial instruments and how companies can help shape future developments.

Canada: Financial reporting news
These PwC Canada newsletters and publications help organizations stay up-to-date on financial reporting issues.

Internal control over financial reporting

Audit committees must sustain effective financial reporting over their internal controls by scheduling update meetings with management and learning leading practices.

Global: Economic crime: People, culture and controls
According to this international survey, no industry is immune from economic crime's risks.

Canada: Global Economic Crime Survey 2007: Canadian Summary
This summary provides a Canadian perspective on the 2007 global survey results, with insights into the perceptions, awareness and impact of economic crime across Canada and around the world.

US: Are your internal controls supporting your business strategy?
This white paper highlights the benefits of strong internal controls for private companies and outlines the steps they can take to get there.

US: Looking ahead: Strengthening the structural foundation of the US investment management industry: Internal controls
In this publication, we present our observations on five areas of internal control with important ramifications for the industry, and we offer suggested practices to address challenges seen in each area.

Canada: Financial reporting news
These PwC Canada newsletters and publications assist companies with staying informed on financial reporting issues.