Research the inspection and enforcement reports of the USA Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in terms of the big four audit firms

The SOX Act and the establishment of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), which is the first main title of this relevant act, is the remarkable step in terms of oversight of the audit in restoring the confidence of the public and investors, which was lost after the financial scandals that created reactions in the world in the early 2000s. This board has gone into action in the USA in 2003. However, it is still important to be inspected the audit firms by an authority and research the effect of these inspections on audit activities. The purpose of this study was to research the inspections and enforcements of the USA Public Company Accounting Oversight Board for the big four audit firms for the years 2003 and 2018. According to the findings, there are more than 2.304 companies that are subjected to inspection by PCAOB regarding the big four; the most scrutinized company was PwC; the number of companies identified as shortcomings is 1,594; the most deficient accounting area is revenues and stocks; the most cited standard is "The Auditor's Responses to the Risks of Material Misstatement"; there are 3 enforcements of Deloitte while there respectively are 1 and 1 enforcements belong to PwC and E&Y. Keywords: Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board, PCAOB, Audit Oversight, PCAOB's Inspection, PCAOB's Enforcement, Big Four