PCAOB Independence Standards What are four requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley that seek to protect auditor independence?

Answer 1

Sarbanes-Oxley: Auditor Independence
201 Services outside the scope of practice of auditors. There exist a variety of services that registered audit firms may not perform for issuers, such as bookkeeping, systems design, appraisal services,
and internal auditing, among others. Tax services may be performed, but only with pre-approval by the audit committee.
202 Preapproval requirements. All audit and non-audit services (with certain exceptions based on size and practicality) must be approved by the audit committee of the issuer.
203 Audit partner rotation. The lead partner and reviewing partner must rotate off the issuer engagement at least every five years.
204 Auditor reports to audit committees. Registered audit firms must report to the audit committee issues concerning:
• Critical accounting policies and practices
• Alternative treatments of financial information within generally accepted accounting principles that have been considered by management, as well as the preferred treatment of the audit firm
• Significant written communications between the audit firm and management
206 Conflicts of interest. Registered audit firms may not perform audits for an issuer whose CEO, CFO, controller, chief accounting officer, or other equivalent position was employed by the audit firm during the one –year period preceding the audit. This is known as a "cooling off period. "