| Description |
The future of the public accounting profession hinges on the operative word 'public'. A major reason for it's unparalleled success to date is a strong foundation of public confidence in the auditor's report, a document intended to provide an independent and objective view of a corporation's financial position. Although only one element in the investor's decision making matrix (which also includes the financial information itself as well as input from stockbrokers and other analysts), the audit opinion contained in the auditor's report is especially important since it validates the information upon which other analyses are based. Confidence in the auditors' opinion, however, may be waning as the gap between the public's expectations of auditor responsibilities and their evaluation of the auditors' performance widens [Bertholdt, 1986; Connor, 1986]. |
