Paul Beswick, the SEC's Chief Accountant, discussed
the role of audit committees at the recent SEC Speaks program
titled "Audit Committees: Back to Basics."
Stressing the critical role that audit committees play in ensuring
that the relationship between auditors and public company
management is in the public interest, Beswick discussed both basic
responsibilities and best practices for audit committees. Below is
a summary of some of his key observations.
Evaluation of Auditors. Beswick noted that the
PCAOB has a
project to develop audit quality indicators. Nevertheless, he said
that audit committees should have their own metrics for evaluating
the quality of audits.
Relationship of Audit Committees with Auditors.
Beswick indicated that auditors should have open access to audit
committees and be able to call on members of the audit committee at
any time. He noted with approval an audit committee chair's
statement that the auditors work for the committee chair.
