Dr. Lyn Graham Trains California Officials on New Risk Standards

NATIONAL EXPERT TRAINS LEADING CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS ON NEW AUDIT RISK STANDARDS

SACRAMENTO, CA (September 19, 2007) – Dr. Lynford (Lyn) Graham, a recent past member of the Auditing Standards Board who chaired the AICPA’s Audit Risk Guide Task Force, gave a series of presentations to clients and employees of Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP (MGO) concerning the new audit risk standards for 2008. Over 150 professionals attended the presentations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Emeryville and by remote access.

Dr. Graham’s seminars for MGO clients, “New Risk Assessment Standards: Understanding the Impact,” took place on August 28 and 29 and addressed the eight new statements that will be effective for fiscal year 2008, providing insight on:

  • Motivations behind the new auditing standards
  • Expectations regarding documentation of internal controls
  • Internal controls as defined by the COSO Framework
  • Comparison with Sarbanes-Oxley
  • Issues in documenting internal controls 
  • Required auditor communications of internal control and other matters 
  • Prior year waived adjustments – catching up

Attendees included representatives from CALPERS, CALSTRS, County of Los Angeles, Orange County, City of San Diego, County of San Diego, City and County of San Francisco, Santa Clara County, City of Oakland, San Jose International Airport, Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports.

"I want to compliment MGO for making the presentation available to us,” said Stephen Garcia, Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Administration, California State University, Sacramento. “It was truly a rewarding experience and privilege as well as educational to hear from Lynford Graham, an accomplished professional in this area. They’ve given us the basis to start preparation for the new COSO requirements."

“We wanted to give our clients access to one of the nation’s leading experts so that all of their questions about incorporating the new standards efficiently and effectively could be answered by one of the best,” said MGO Managing Partner Kevin O’Connell.

Additionally, Dr. Graham facilitated seminars for MGO employees on August 29 in San Francisco and August 30 in Emeryville.

In addition to chairing the Audit Risk Guide Task Force (“Accessing and Responding to Audit Risk in a Financial Statement Audit”), Dr. Graham was the US representative to the IAASB Materiality Task Force (ISA 320 and 450).

About Macias Gini & O’Connell

Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP (MGO), founded in 1987, is a statewide certified public accounting and consulting firm with offices in Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego. The firm offers a diverse array of professional services and is an independent member of the BDO Seidman Alliance. MGO is ranked as the 29th fastest growing CPA firm in the nation as well as one of the Top 25 Accounting firms in the greater Sacramento region, where it is headquartered, and the East Bay region of San Francisco.