There is an ongoing debate about whether professional accountants are sufficiently sceptical in applying professional judgment. For example, the concerns of regulators and others have been highlighted in the media and form part of the discussions on the future of the accounting profession. In this regard, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) (Audit and Assurance Faculty) is exploring the possibility of conveying key messages on the issues and has discussed this possibility with the UK Professional Oversight Board (POB).
The result is a new set of videos Professional scepticism and other key audit issues now available on the ICAEW website. The purpose of the videos is to highlight some of the concerns of the POB (and other regulators around the world) and to be constructive about how audit firms respond to the issues. In total, there are ten videos with one compilation video (about 40 minutes long). It is hoped that, in addition to individual auditors watching them, some firms will play the videos as part of training activities and team meetings.
The longest video (about 17 minutes) highlights the fundamental importance of professional scepticism. The video provides key messages on the issues that will be of interest to firms at the current time. Martyn Jones (ICAEW Vice-President) speaks about how auditors should be dealing with the challenges and the need to understand that scepticism is a behavioural issue for the entire audit team. John Kellas (POB Chairman) talks about what the Audit Inspection Unit (AIU) has been looking at in the current climate and describes the ways a lack of scepticism can be apparent. Myles Thompson (Chairman of the faculty’s Technical and Practical Auditing Committee) outlines the personality traits that auditors need to have and gives tips on how to produce documentation that demonstrates scepticism.
The messages are relevant to auditors from firms of all sizes and the personal qualities that are spoken about are needed for all types and sizes of audit. The key points also apply internationally, not just in the UK. Other subjects covered in the videos are group audits, quality control, audit committee reporting, audit documentation, ethical matters and concluding remarks.
