SEC Approves 2021 PCAOB Budget and Accounting Support Fee

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted today to approve the 2021 budget of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the related annual accounting support fee. The 2021 PCAOB budget totals $287.3 million, an increase of approximately 0.9% from its 2020 budget, and takes into account changes necessitated by the current telework environment such as a reduction on travel spending. The accounting support fee totals $263.9 million, approximately 2.3% lower than the 2020 accounting support fee, of which $236.2 million will be assessed on public companies and $27.7 million will be assessed on registered broker-dealers. The accounting support fee approximates the PCAOB’s annual budget, with differences generally attributable to certain timing differences in fee collections and PCAOB expenditures, adjustments to the working capital reserve, and the potential unspent funds from the prior year budget being carried forward into the accounting support fee calculation.