The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has issued a penalty against US accounting firm TPS Thayer for lapses during five audits involving two companies with main operations in China.  

PCAOB found that TPS Thayer did not sufficiently plan the five audits of these two companies or supervise a public accounting firm (Firm A), which is also in China.  

Firm A’s work formed a significant part of these audit engagements for the two companies that have their “principal place of business” in China. 

TPS Thayer also did not provide the necessary information about Firm A’s participation in Form AP filings with the board and in communications with the audit committees of the two companies – Huadi International Group and Ostin Technology Group.  

TPS Thayer is said to have improperly allowed Firm A, which was not registered with the board, to play a substantial role in five issuer audits – the audits of the financial statements of Ostin for fiscal years ended 30 September  2020, 2021, and 2022, and the audits of the financial statements of Huadi for fiscal years ended 30 September  2021 and 2022. 

Registration with the PCAOB was mandatory before Firm A could participate in issuer audits. 

The order states that TPS Thayer did not ensure that Firm A’s role complied with PCAOB registration requirements.  

Sanctions from the board include censure of TPS Thayer, a civil penalty of $100,000, and conditions requiring remedial measures.  

Earlier in September 2025, PCAOB sanctioned Marcum Asia CPAs, a firm headquartered in New York, US, for failing to comply with auditing standards and PCAOB rules.   

The disciplinary order relates to the firm’s actions during its tenure as the auditor for Gridsum Holding, a Beijing-based company, and the subsequent transfer of workpapers to a successor auditor, Shandong Haoxin Certified Public Accountants in China.