Audit Committee Insights | June 2026

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In This Issue:

• SEC Proposed Amendments: Filer Status and Emerging Growth Company Accommodations Reform (404(b) Trigger)
• PCAOB Proposed Targeted Amendments to QC 1000
• Join Us and Earn 1 CPE Credit: Audit Insider Webinar with Kurt Hohl and Heather Rosenberger
• How to Be an (even more) Effective Audit Committee Member
• Disruption – A New Normal in the Boardroom
• CAQ’s Audit Committee Council Spotlight: Karen Golz, Audit Committee Chair Analog Devices, Inc.
• ICYMI: CAQ Public Policy Technical Alert (PPTA), May 2026​​​​​​
• It’s Goal Time: 2026 FIFA World Cup

SEC Proposed Amendments: Filer Status and Emerging Growth Company Accommodations Reform (404(b) Trigger)

The SEC proposed amendments to its rules and forms that would scale disclosure requirements and accommodations for public companies and simplify the filer status framework. Deloitte shares more on this proposal in a recent publication. Below are some key proposed changes:

• Accelerated Filer (AF) and Smaller Reporting Company (SRC) categories removed – Under the proposal there would be 2 main categories of filers: Large Accelerated Filers (LAFs) and Non-accelerated Filers (NAFs). Only the largest companies would be subject to Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) section 404(b), the ICFR auditor attestation.
• LAF threshold increases from $700 million to $2 billion in public float – As proposed, only companies with a public float over $2 billion for two consecutive years would be LAFs. This means that approximately 19% of current public companies, representing 93.5% of total public float, would be subject to the ICFR auditor attestation compared to approximately 48% of public companies, representing 98.8% of total public float, that are subject to it today. This would lead to over 1,700 companies no longer being subject to 404(b).
• IPOs have a 60-month “on-ramp” before becoming a LAF – The proposal would require that a company have 60 consecutive calendar months of reporting before they could become an LAF.

This chart from Ropes & Gray breaks down the current and proposed filer categories:

If you have views you would like to share with the SEC, the public comment period for this proposal is open until July 20. Comments can be submitted here.

PCAOB Proposed Targeted Amendments to QC 1000

The PCAOB proposed targeted amendments to QC 1000, A Firm’s System of Quality Control. Chair Logothetis stated that the goal of the amendments is to “…produce a rigorous, clear, and consistent framework while ensuring that implementation is scalable, efficient, cost-effective, and contributes to audit quality.”

Key targeted amendments include: Rescission of design-only requirement, increased flexibility in filling certain roles in the QC system; rescission of External Quality Control Function requirement; firm-chosen evaluation date (rather than fixed date); closer alignment with the international standard, related to a firm’s QC system evaluation conclusions; documentation retention period reduced from seven years to five.

The comment period to submit comments is open until July 9^th and information on submitting comments can be found here.

Join Us and Earn 1 CPE Credit: Audit Insider Webinar with Kurt Hohl and Heather Rosenberger

Register here to join the CAQ’s webinar on July 13^th at 2pm EDT featuring Kurt Hohl, SEC Chief Accountant and Heather Rosenberger, Chief Accountant in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, moderated by CAQ’s Dennis McGowan, Vice President, Professional Practice and Anti-Fraud Initiatives and Annette Schumacher, Senior Director, Professional Practice.

This webinar is eligible for 1 CPE credit and will be a great opportunity to hear directly from the SEC staff about current priorities and recent proposals.

How to Be an (even more) Effective Audit Committee Member

Whether you are new to your role on the audit committee or have been serving for years, there is always room to learn and improve. PwC recently published Board effectiveness: A survey of the C-suite, finding that, while the audit committee is the highest-rated committee, there are a few areas executives noted that they would like to see improvements in:

For more information on enhancing effectiveness, BDO released a new practice aid for audit committee chairs. This practice aid is designed for audit committee chairs at any stage during their tenure. Along with practical considerations, BDO provided several reflection questions for audit committee chairs to consider. Here are a few:

• Do committee members actively present dissenting views, when applicable, or does “groupthink” tend to prevail?
• How do I add value before, during and after committee meetings to ensure committee discussions are focused, and decisions and actions are made timely?
• Am I actively developing committee members, and identifying those fit to serve as potential future chairs?
• Am I actively recalibrating my own skills or knowledge to address emerging issues?
• Which “new” oversight areas meaningfully align with the committee’s mandate versus distract from it?
• Am I able to clearly articulate the technology-related risks that matter most to this company?

Disruption – A New Normal in the Boardroom

Disruption, whether through technological or geopolitical change, is becoming a focus of boards. Tapestry, supported by EY, shared insights on these topics in the latest edition of their ViewPoints series, Governing in the wake of technological and geopolitical disruption. KPMG also released Midyear observations on the 2026 board agenda, which covers the same topics. Both of these publications are informed through surveys and discussions with directors. See below for some of the key takeaways from both resources:

• Deeper, structural change within a company is unfolding – While some of these technological and geopolitical changes may be temporary, operating in this environment may require a deeper structural change within a company. Company management and boards may need to adjust risk processes and practices as assumptions are changing. Additionally, the workforce disruption from technology will require companies to reassess their talent pool and consider retraining or shifting their workforce to different areas. A KPMG survey found that 80% of directors believe that their company’s strategy will require significant adjustment in the next 1-2 years.
• The impact of AI is growing – AI tools provide opportunities for vast improvements but are also having a broader impact on strategy, talent, decision-making, and risk. The growing impact leads to a greater need for strong governance and guardrails around new technology. A chief technology officer shared that “ompanies that have really strong governance are about 12 times faster at adopting AI, just because that confidence is there.”
• Geopolitics is a permanent governance consideration – Trade tensions, conflict, regulatory shifts, and supply chain vulnerabilities are no longer peripheral concerns. Assuming that things will return to stability is a risk itself and boards need to insulate themselves from the volatility. It is important to “keep management focused on what they can control” by separating oversight from operational distraction.

CAQ’s Audit Committee Council Spotlight: Karen Golz, Audit Committee Chair Analog Devices, Inc.

We sat down with Karen Golz, a member of the CAQ’s Audit Committee Council, to shed light on her career and journey to the audit committee.

How did you get started in accounting? What was your first and last job?

In high school, I met an accountant, became intrigued by the profession, and decided to study accounting. I began my career as anaudit staff at Arthur Young (which later merged to become Ernst & Young). I went on to spend 41 years with the firm, with my last role being Global Vice Chair, Japan.

What was the first corporate board that you joined? How did you get on that board?

I joined my first corporate board, Analog Devices, Inc. in June 2018, approximately a year after retiring from EY. The opportunity arose through a relationship I had developed with the CFO of a client. She was passionate about helping other women get onto boards and was involved in a program called The Last Mile. I serve as the chair of the audit committee today.

What do you enjoy most about serving on an audit committee? How is it different from other board committees?

I enjoy most the breadth of what an audit committee covers. The range covers financial reporting, internal controls, and often, risks facing the organization. It is really where many topics come together and is often one of the busiest committees.

What else do you do outside of board service?

I like to spend some of my time giving back as I feel a strong obligation to help others. One way I do that is through being the chair of my university’s foundation, which is very meaningful to me. As a first-generation college student, I am passionate about helping other first-generation college students succeed through the support of scholarships. I also spend time supporting and mentoring other women in their careers. Outside of those things, I enjoy being outdoors either boating, kayaking, or swimming.

What trends or risks do you think audit committees will need to focus on in the next few years?

A number of key risks are being driven by the current geopolitical environment. Things can shift quickly, whether due to tariffs, conflicts, or changes in global relationships. Those uncertainties make capital allocation decisions more challenging and make de-risking strategies more important. Cybersecurity is another significant and growing risk, with increasingly sophisticated threats.

Artificial intelligence brings tremendous opportunity but also raises important questions about how it will affect jobs, how companies operate, how audits are performed, and how financial reporting models may evolve.

In addition to Karen’s role as audit committee chair for Analog Devices, Inc., she has previously served as the audit committee chair for Aspen Technology, Inc. and iROBOT Corporation. She also serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the University of Illinois Foundation. She joined the CAQ’s Audit Committee Council in December of 2024.

ICYMI: CAQ Public Policy Technical Alert (PPTA), May 2026

Each month, the PPTA highlights and examines the regulatory, standard-setting, legislative, and broader financial reporting developments impacting the public company audit profession. The CAQ’s May 2026 Alert included these featured articles.

International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Publishes AI Supervisory Toolkit

The IOSCO published a Supervisory Toolkit for AI Use in Capital Markets. The report provides regulators with a practical toolkit to support the supervision and oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) based systems used by regulated entities.

It’s Goal Time: 2026 FIFA World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is here, and we’re watching how the matches play out right here in North America. Co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, this is the largest World Cup in history with 48 teams (up from 32) and a record-setting 104 matches in just over a one-month period. Watching soccer (ahem, football) for the first time or looking for a refresh before tuning in? Here are some helpful facts and things to know from a recent article to get you started. And of course, Go USA!

• The World Cup is huge – with the 2022 final reaching 1.42 billion viewers and one match having over 5 billion views, the World Cup attracts a similar number of viewers as the Olympics. For comparison, the Super Bowl attracted just under 138 million viewers.
• The final will be on July 19^th at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
• Spain is seen as the frontrunners for this World Cup, but anything is possible in this tournament.

This newsletter is intended as general information and should not be relied upon as being definitive or all-inclusive. The CAQ encourages readers to refer to applicable rules, standards, guidance, and other resources in their entirety. All entities should carefully evaluate which requirements apply to their respective organizations.