AUDITING - US Chamber of Commerce

Auditing: A Profession at Risk4discussions geared around financialstatement reporting cycles.• The auditing profession faces a numberof significant legal challenges. It issubject to new regulation under theauspices of the Public CompanyAccounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).More important, the professionfinds itself the target of a difficultlitigation and regulatory enforcementenvironment, where business lossesby a client can result in lawsuits, anda single indictment — even withouta conviction — can result in thedestruction of thousands of jobs.• Because of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act andother requirements, auditing expenseshave increased tremendously. At thesame time, many clients believe thatthey are receiving less overall adviceand support from their auditors. Auditfirms feel that they are caught in ano-win situation between the demandsof regulators, law enforcement, theplaintiffs’ bar, and their clients.• The process of developing accountingprinciples remains in flux, evenas business transactions becomeever more complex. In addition tothe respective roles of FASB, thePCAOB, and the SEC, there are manyemerging issues related to internationalharmonization and the IASB.