Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements

1 Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements2171AT-C Section 215 Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements (Supersedes SSAE No. 18 section 215)Source: SSAE No. for Agreed-Upon Procedures reports dated on or after July15, 2021. Early implementation is of This Statement on Standards forAttestation section contains performance and reporting requirements and ap-plication guidance for all Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements . The require-ments and guidance in this section supplement the requirements and guidancein section 105,Concepts Common to All Attestation Procedures engagementis an attestation engagementin which a practitioner performs specific Procedures on subject matter and re-ports the findings without providing an opinion or conclusion. The subject mat-ter may be financial or nonfinancial information. Because the needs of an en-gaging party may vary widely, the nature, timing, and extent of the proceduresmay vary, as well.

2 (Ref: par..A1 .A2).03 Because the engaging party best understands its own needs, the engag-ing party is required to agree to the Procedures and acknowledge that the pro-cedures performed are appropriate for the intended purpose of the engagementprior to issuance of the practitioner's Agreed-Upon Procedures report. Engage-ment circumstances may be such that it is appropriate for parties in additionto the engaging party to agree to the Procedures and acknowledge that the pro-cedures performed are appropriate for their purposes. The engaging party andintended users assess for themselves the Procedures and findings reported bythe practitioner and draw their own conclusions from the work performed bythe an engagement performed in accordance with this section, the prac-titioner does not perform an examination or a review engagement and does notprovide an opinion or conclusion.

3 Instead, the Agreed-Upon Procedures reportis in the form of Procedures and a practitioner performs services pursuant to an engagement toapply Agreed-Upon Procedures to subject matter as part of or in addition toanother form of service, this section applies only to those services describedherein; other professional standards would apply to the other services. Otherservices may include an audit, review, or compilation of a financial statement,another attestation service performed pursuant to the attestation standards,or a nonattest service. A practitioner's report on applying Agreed-Upon proce-dures to subject matter may be combined with a report on such other services,provided the types of services can be clearly distinguished, and the applicablestandards for each service are followed. 2021, AICPAAT-C of section does not apply to Engagements to issue letters (commonlyreferred to ascomfort letters) to underwriters and certain other section is effective for Agreed-Upon Procedures reports dated onor after July 15, 2021.

4 Early implementation is conducting an Agreed-Upon Procedures engagement, the objectivesof the practitioner are to do the specific Procedures to subject matter (Ref: par..A3) a written practitioner's report that describes the proceduresapplied and the practitioner's findings without providing an further as required by relevant AT-C sectionsRequirementsConduct of an Agreed-Upon Procedures performing an Agreed-Upon Procedures engagement, the practi-tioner should comply with this section, section 105, and any subject mattersection that is relevant to the engagement. A subject-matter section is relevantto the engagement when it is in effect, and the circumstances addressed by thesection exist. (Ref: par..A4)Preconditions for an Agreed-Upon Procedures 105 indicates that a practitioner must be independent whenperforming an attestation engagement in accordance with the attestation stan-dards, unless the practitioner is required by law or regulation to accept theengagement and report on the subject the practitioner is notindependent but is required by law or regulation to accept an Agreed-Upon pro-cedures engagement and report on the Procedures performed and findings ob-tained, the practitioner's report should specifically state that the practitioneris not independent.

5 The practitioner is neither required to provide, nor pre-cluded from providing, the reasons for the lack of independence; however, if thepractitioner chooses to provide the reasons for the lack of independence, thepractitioner should include all the reasons therefor. (Ref: par..A5).11In order to establish that the preconditions for an Agreed-Upon pro-cedures engagement are present, the practitioner should determine that thefollowing conditions, in addition to the preconditions identified in section 105,are present:3(Ref: par..A6 .A7) practitioner determines that Procedures can be designed, per-formed, and reported on in accordance with this AU-C section 920,Letters for Underwriters and Certain Other Requesting .24 of section 105,Concepts Common to All Attestation .24 .28 of section 2021, AICPAA greed-Upon Procedures engaging party agrees, or will be able to agree, to the proce-dures and acknowledges that the Procedures are appropriate forthe intended purpose of the engagement.

6 (Ref: par..A8) Procedures to be applied to the subject matter are expectedto result in reasonably consistent applicable, the practitioner agrees to apply a threshold forreporting exceptions established by the engaging party. (Ref: ).12 The practitioner should establish an understanding with the engagingparty regarding the nature of the engagement, including the intended purpose of the engagement and the intended usersof the Agreed-Upon Procedures the practitioner's Agreed-Upon Procedures report is ex-pected to be restricted to the use of specified parties (Ref: .A10) the engagement to be performed is pursuant to any law,regulation, or contract (Ref: par..A11) parties in addition to the engaging party will be re-quested to agree to the Procedures and acknowledge that the pro-cedures performed are appropriate for their purposes (Ref.)

7 A15).13 The practitioner is precluded from accepting an Agreed-Upon proce-dures engagement if the practitioner believes the intended purpose of the en-gagement is not clear or the engaging party will not have a basis for agreeingand acknowledging that the Procedures are appropriate for the intended pur-pose of the on the Terms of the practitioner should agree upon the terms of the engagement withthe engaging party. The Agreed-Upon terms of the engagement should be speci-fied in sufficient detail in an engagement letter or other suitable form of writtenagreement. (Ref: par..A16).15 The Agreed-Upon terms of the engagement should include the follow- nature of the engagement established pursuant to of the subject matter and the responsible responsibilities of the practitioner (Ref: par..A17 .A18) statement that the engagement will be conducted in accordancewith attestation standards established by the statement that the responsible party is responsible for the sub-ject matter (Ref: par.

8 A19) statement that the engaging party agrees to provide the practi-tioner, prior to the completion of the engagement, with a writtenagreement and acknowledgment that the Procedures performedare appropriate for the intended purpose of the engagement. (Ref:par..A20) statement that the engaging party agrees to provide, at the con-clusion of the engagement, a representation letter. 2021, AICPAAT-C of known at the onset of the engagement, an identification of anyother parties, in addition to the engaging party, that will be re-quested to agree to the Procedures and acknowledge that the pro-cedures performed are appropriate for their purposes. If the re-quest is expected to be made by the engaging party, a statementthat the engaging party agrees to provide, at the conclusion of theengagement, a written representation that the engaging partyhas obtained from all necessary other parties agreement to theprocedures and acknowledgment that the Procedures performedare appropriate for their the engaging party is not the responsible party,a statement thatwritten representations may be requested from the to the expected form and content of the practitioner'sagreed-upon Procedures report, including any use restrictions, expected to be included in the practitioner's report, to be provided to the practitioner, if of a practitioner's external specialist, if thresholds for reporting exceptions, if applicable (Ref:par.

9 A37) Procedures to Be practitioner should perform Procedures agreed to and acknowl-edged by the engaging party to meet the intended purpose of the engagementestablished with the engaging party pursuant to paragraph .12a. (Ref: .A26)..17 The practitioner should not perform Procedures that are open to vary-ing interpretations or that use vague or ambiguous language. Terms of uncer-tain meaning (such asgeneral review,limited review,check,ortest) should notbe used in describing the Procedures unless such terms are defined within theprocedures. (Ref: par..A27).18 The practitioner should obtain evidence from applying the proceduresto provide a reasonable basis for the finding or findings expressed in the prac-titioner's report but need not perform additional Procedures outside the scopeof the engagement to gather additional the Work of a Practitioner s External practitioner and the engaging party should explicitly agree to theinvolvement of a practitioner's external specialist if assisting a practitioner inthe performance of an Agreed-Upon Procedures engagement.

10 (Ref: par..A28 .A30).20 The practitioner's report should describe the nature of the assistanceprovided by the practitioner's external the Work of Internal Auditors or Other Procedures to be enumerated or referred to in the practitioner'sreport should be performed by the engagement team or other practitioners andnot by internal auditors. (Ref: par..A31 .A33)AT-C 2021, AICPAA greed-Upon Procedures Engagements2175 Appropriateness of the Procedures to the issuance of the practitioner's Agreed-Upon Procedures re-port, the practitioner should obtain a written agreement of the Procedures andacknowledgment from the engaging party that the Procedures performed areappropriate for the intended purpose of the engagement. (Ref: par..A34 .A35).23If the engaging party refuses to provide the written agreement andacknowledgment required by paragraph.