A system that lets auditors effectively grade their clients' accounting would not guarantee success.
The industry should seek a compromise, perhaps one that lets auditors continue to do more information-technology consulting than the S.E.C. seems to want, but with safeguards and fuller disclosures.
Generally, the law firms operate under their own names—a pity for the Big Five, some of which are lavishing money on "brand-building .It is several years since any of the brand-building .It themselves as mere accountants, let alone audisorseveral
Mandatory rotation would let that auditor know that such compromises would become known to someone who had nothing to lose by questioning them.
Last month the European parliament also called for Facebook to let in external auditors in the wake of Cambridge Analytica, to ensure users' data is being properly protected — yet another invitation Facebook has declined.
(To allay suspicion, producers offered to let an independent auditor keep an eye on the books).
It's fine to explore the tone scale by yourself, but it's also important to let an experienced auditor guide you through the process to more thoroughly integrate the concepts into your practice.
Let's hope the auditors take that to heart when the audit season begins in a few weeks.
MBIA has persuaded its auditors to let it book $2.1 billion in receivables from banks, although only one small bank has reached a settlement with the insurer.
"Few if any countries spend as much on — or devote as much intensity of effort to — enforcement of financial reporting and auditing as the U.S. does," said Charles D. Niemeier, a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, who has dissented from its proposal to let foreign authorities inspect auditors.
