Rising to the Challenge
The last twelve months will not be remembered as the happiest of periods for the accountancy profession, least of all in the United States. A series of high-profile corporate collapses has dealt a blow across the world to public confidence in existing systems of corporate governance and financial reporting, and in the role played by accountants in auditing and advising their clients
The UK accountancy profession has been fighting hard to avoid an excessive, knee-jerk response. Much has been said about the distinguishing features of UK accounting standards, and the advantages that their principles-based approach has over the more rules-based approach adopted in the United States. Nonetheless, change is on the agenda, and the ICAEW has already introduced new recommended best practice on audit independence, including a two-year cooling-off period before an auditor joins a client. The issues of audit firm rotation, and the extent to which auditors should perform
