The Center for Audit Quality recently gathered a group of 30 people at a workshop in Washington, D.C., to discuss how they see the role of the public company auditor changing.
The CAQ has just released a report summarizing the findings of the workshop, which took place on March 12. None of the participants are quoted by name as the workshop took place under so-called “Chatham House rules,” in which the identities and affiliations of speakers are not revealed. Still, there are some enlightening findings for the audit profession in the report, among them:
• Non-GAAP disclosures are important to investors’ decision making processes, although audited financial statements provide a baseline;
• More consistency and comparability is warranted in the use of KPIs in MD&A and earnings releases;
• Investors want to hear directly from management; auditor involvement with information outside the financial statements could add an unwanted “filter”; and
• Some investors would like to see a requirement that the auditor read and discuss the earnings release with the audit committee.
To download a copy of the report,
