PCAOB Board Member Outlines Vision to Restore Trust in Audits

PCAOB Board Member Christina Ho called for innovation, regulatory restraint and cost discipline to retore trust in audits. 

In remarks at the 49th Kent State University Meonske Professional Development Conference, Ms. Ho delivered a critique of the Board’s current direction and laid out her vision to "reorient" its programs by focusing on promoting innovation, rightsizing PCAOB regulations and increasing cost efficiency. 

Promoting Innovation. Ms. Ho called for a rethinking of PCAOB standards to encourage the use of emerging technologies—particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI)—in audit engagements. She argued that the Board’s stated neutrality toward technology is functionally equivalent to discouragement, given the lack of guidance on how technologies can be effectively used. She warned that this regulatory ambiguity is leading firms to retreat from innovation due to fear of inspection penalties. She urged the PCAOB to set "transparent, stable standards" and engage with audit firms in pilot programs to test new technology-driven audit methods. She credited the PCAOB’s now-disbanded Technology Innovation Alliance Working Group with laying groundwork, but criticized the Board’s failure to act on its recommendations, calling the past year "a terrible amount of time to waste."

Rightsizing PCAOB Regulations. Ms. Ho pushed for a more measured, investor-focused regulatory posture. She expressed concern that the PCAOB’s recent standard-setting agenda burdens audit firms—especially smaller ones—with compliance-heavy rules that lack a clear link to improved audit quality. She cited the tightly packed implementation timeline for several major standards, including AS 1000, QC 1000, and technology-assisted analysis rules, and warned that firms are being forced to prioritize rule compliance over quality execution. She called for a cumulative impact assessment of all recently adopted standards and proposed a grace period for inspections during initial implementation. Additionally, she called for inspection reports to clearly differentiate between "material deficiencies" and deficiencies that are not material.

Increasing Cost Efficiency. Ms. Ho criticized the PCAOB’s rising budget, which has grown by 40% since 2020 to $400 million. She argued that the Board’s budgetary expansion has not been matched by performance improvements and called for greater fiscal discipline. She asserted that innovation and leadership—not higher spending—are the keys to impactful regulation.