While the economic environment has shown signs of stabilizing over the past year, the seas still look somewhat choppy with many issues contributing to the uncertainty businesses face today as they look into the future. In light of these challenges and an ever-changing business environment, audit committees must formulate an appropriate agenda.

This issue provides observations for consideration by boards of directors and their audit committees as 2011 unfolds. Although the applicability and prioritization of these challenges will vary by industry, our intent is to summarize top-of-mind issues many companies expect to face in these dynamic times as they move forward during 2011. The suggested agenda is based on our interactions with client audit committees, roundtables we have conducted and discussions with directors at conferences and other forums.