COSO’s risk-management framework to undergo update

A well-known framework for risk management is scheduled for another update.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) announced Tuesday that it is undertaking a project to update its Enterprise Risk Management – Integrated Framework, which debuted in 2004.

Organisations use the framework to help them manage uncertainty, consider how much risk to accept, and improve understanding of their opportunities to increase and preserve value.

The update is being undertaken to improve the framework’s content and relevance in the context of an increasingly complex business environment. The update is intended to:

• Reflect the evolution of risk-management thinking and practices, as well as stakeholder expectations.
• Develop tools to help management report risk information, and review and assess the application of enterprise risk management.

PwC has been engaged to update the framework under the direction of COSO’s board. PwC will seek input and feedback on the project, and will conduct a survey seeking opinions on the current framework and suggestions for improvements.

More information is available at coso.org.

COSO is a committee of five sponsoring organisations, including the American Institute of CPAs, that come together periodically to provide thought leadership on enterprise risk management, internal control, and fraud deterrence.

In 2013, COSO completed an update of its internal control framework to reflect changes in technology and the business environment that have taken place since that framework’s origination in 1992.

—Ken Tysiac (ktysiac@aicpa.org) is a CGMA Magazine editorial director.