Finding Integrity in the Auditor

 

A recent article by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland notes that “Amid global uncertainty, the search for professionalism and assurance has never been more important...” It also notes that the work the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) is doing in relation to ongoing development of auditing standards and auditor reporting will be vital to providing assurance to investors, and clarity and confidence to a world sorely lacking both.

The article expresses the view that: “Confidence in an audit comes from confidence in the auditor; there's something wonderfully personal about the title ‘Auditor's Report’. It places an emphasis on the individual woman or man, on her or his expertise, evaluations and integrity. And where do you go for this integrity? Where do you go for men and women who have an innate understanding of what it means to be a professional? Where do you go for people who know their professional responsibilities and who act, not because of fear of regulators or because they’re blindly following rules, but because of who they are?”

According to the article, “It comes from the training they receive and the role models they look up. It comes from ethics declarations such as the one the newest CAs made at the recent Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland admissions ceremony in Edinburgh. And it comes from advice and discussion, between a community of peers and from senior to junior, about the professional issues of the days.”

Read the article “Finding Integrity in the Auditor” by Anton Colella in the August 2012 issue of GAA Accounting online (also available in the Digital Edition, page 53). To learn more, see other resources dealing with “integrity.”