The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s nearly $400 million 2025 budget this week, as well as its related annual accounting support fee.
The $399.7 million budget includes $374.9 million in accounting support fees, of which $346.1 million is assess on public company issuers and $28.8 million is assess on registered broker-dealers.
“Well-functioning financial markets are built on trust,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said. “Critical to such trust are disclosures – including financial statement disclosures made by issuers and broker-dealers to the investing public. I have seen since the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley 22 years ago the importance of that law in promoting trust in public company figures. This trust, though, can easily be taken for granted. The PCAOB – an important reform of the George W. Bush Administration – writes the standards for auditors and audits the auditors. That’s the core of what it does, and it’s every bit as important now and into the future.”
The PCAOB was established as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and is overseen by the SEC. The SEC’s oversight includes annually reviewing the board’s budget and accounting support fee.
“I am confident in the Board’s ability to continue to act as a diligent and responsible steward of publicly sourced accounting support fees, as evidenced by their accomplishments this past year,” SEC Chief Accountant Paul Munter said.