The Best Way to Enhance the Credibility of the Financial Statements Is by Means of the External Audit

Auditor independence and a prohibition on audit firms offering value-added (read "conflict of interest") services

This case established that an auditor could be sued by a primary beneficiary for damages from negligence. A primary beneficiary is a party that has a direct benefit from the audit. Non-privity parties could also sue for gross negligence. This increased the auditor’s legal exposure to third parties. The SEC of 1934 reflected these changes and many others; one significant change was that auditor’s had a much higher litigation risk due to their new responsibility to third parties.

A review and an audit report are both a form of an attestation engagement. A Review, however, is less in scope so it provides a moderate level of assurance on the financial statements. It is considered a “sniff” of an audit, which comparatively provides reasonable assurance that no material misstatements occurred. Since a review deals with a limited scope, it does not provide the basis for expressing an opinion on the presentation of the

The second section of this report looks at the first recommendation which suggests firms to report different set of accounting information for its different users. Professional investors are very critical of the two approaches put forward as they do not want exclusion on financial information. The third section of the report looks at the second recommendations on how auditors can play a significant role in encouraging firms to omit immaterial disclosures. Profession investor can rely on auditor’s notes on materiality of financial disclosures when making financial judgments however there are still questions on what is thought to be material. The final part of the report

It highlights the importance of auditors applying sensitive and ethical judgments in all their engagements. Members have the responsibility to collaborate with each other to improve the art of accounting, as well as to maintain the public’s confidence. The auditor’s responsibilities are essential to an effective audit process because through planning, auditors should to communicate with each other, be very organized and discuss what and how to do things in order to serve the public. One of the most important parts in auditing is planning, for that reason responsibility is a must.

The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 enacted many new legislations including the creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which inspects audits of public companies, increased regulations on auditor independence, prohibiting certain non-audit activities, increased corporate responsibility of company executives and management for financial reports, timely and accurate disclosure requirements, and management’s responsibility to design and test the effectiveness of internal controls. These legislations are just a few of the key sections of the Sarbanes Oxley Act among many others and have has a great impact on public auditors and the audit process of public companies. Although many of these new requirements and regulations require more detail, time, and money to implement, they help to protect the public interest of investors and restore the public’s trust in auditors and the financial reports of corporations and business that must follow the policies the forth in the Sarbanes Oxley Act.

The auditor’s responsibility is to express an opinion on the fairness of the presentation of the financials, and an opinion on the effectiveness of internal control of financial reporting, including an opinion on whether management’s assessment of internal control is fairly stated.

An auditor is requested to convey an opinion on whether the financial statements are fairly stated, be it through a voluntary audit or a statutory audit. Before embarking on an audit of the financial statements the auditor is obligated to follow certain steps; this is called the Audit Process. The Audit Process allows the auditor to perform a high level service to the client, ensure that the auditor complies with the auditing standards and limits the auditor’s risk of legal liability or reputational damage. The audit process is subdivided into four phases which is:

The presence of an external auditor allows creditors, investors or bankers to use financial statements that have been prepared with confidence. Although it does not guarantee the accuracy of a financial statement, it provides users with some reassurance that a company’s financial statements give a true and fair view of its financial position and its business operations. It also provides credibility, where in business, is a major asset. With credibility, the willingness of investors, bankers and others to relate and undertake business projects with a company increases. Credibility is also important to build positive reputations.

An important function of the accounting field is to provide external users of financial statements with assurance that the financial information being presented is both reliable and accurate. This basic function of accounting is so important that there is an entire field of experts, called auditors, dedicated to assuring its proper performance. Throughout history there have been many instances in which the basic equilibrium between an institution and current/potential investor has been threatened due to a lack of accountability and trust between the two parties. This issue has been the catalyst for many discussions regarding the proper procedures a firm should follow in order to provide

Since reliable financial information is essential for investors and other stakeholders to take adequate decisions, this reliability must be backed by independent review performed by independent and certified auditing firms, which are supposed to verify and certify financial statements issued by a company’s management. If the auditor is not competent and independent from management, the audit of the financial statements loses its credibility (Schelker, 2013, p.295). According to Impastato (2003), because of audit failures, accountants are to blame for investors losing billions of dollars in earnings in addition to market capitalization (as cited in Grubbs & Ethridge 2007).

The lack of independence for external auditors will lead to the neglect of auditing risks (William R.K., 2003), which are the main reasons for the failure of certified accountants and professional accounting organizations. The consequence of the external auditors deprived of independence would be very serious. And there are many cases, which aroused by the failure of external auditors and most are related to the lack of independence. One famous example is the bankruptcy of Enron and the role played by its external auditor, Arthur Andersen (Todd, S., 2003). Arthur Andersen was once one of the biggest accounting companies in the world, and was canceled for the involvement in the Enron bankruptcy scandal.

This paper critically analyses the independence of the internal audit function through its relationship with management and the audit committee. Given the growing role of internal auditing in contemporary corporate governance and independence has gained renewed attention.

Although the existing evidence on the impact of mandatory audit-firm rotation on audit quality and auditor independence is scarce, conclusions may be drawn from the arguments provided. Advocates of mandatory audit-firm rotation suggest that there is a negative relationship between the auditing objectivity and passage of time, resulting in an increased likelihood of fraud and material misstatements. Contrastively, opponents of mandatory rotation underline the higher costs and risk of material misstatements in the first years of audit tenure. Motivating that a lack of client specific knowledge may be associated with lower financial-reporting quality, opponents suggest that mandatory rotation results in an increased likelihood of audit failure and audit costs. To conclude, it is uncertain whether mandatory audit-firm rotation enhances auditor independence. In order to assess the advantages and disadvantages of mandatory rotation further research must be

A company prepares financial statement to provide information about its financial position and performance. This information is in turn used by a wide range of stakeholders (such as investors, banks, customers, suppliers etc) in making economic decisions with respect to respective economic interest in the company. Typically, in terms of ownership by investment in shares of the company, shareholders though own the company but do not manage it. Therefore, the shareholder and other such stakeholders to get comfort in taking sound decision need independent assurance from the auditors that the financial statements reflect true and fair view of the company affairs in all material respects. Hence, in order to enhance the level of