A group of organizations of financial professionals have teamed up to host a new webinar designed to encourage more skepticism by auditors about financial results.

Cindy Fornelli

The Center for Audit Quality, the National Association of Corporate Directors, Financial Executives International and the Institute of Internal Auditors have  released “Skepticism and the External Auditor,” the latest in the NACD-developed Skepticism Webinar Series.

“Skepticism and the External Auditor” explores the professional skepticism exercised by the external auditor throughout the audit process. Moderated by Michele Hooper, an NACD and CAQ board member, the webinar features CAQ executive director Cindy Fornelli and Greg Weaver, chairman and CEO of Deloitte & Touche LLP. Panelists discuss the importance of professional skepticism to auditor independence and audit quality, how auditors exercise skepticism in their interactions with other members of the financial reporting supply chain, and the ways that firms train their auditors to be skeptical.

The webinar released Monday is part two of a five-part series that highlights the importance of skepticism—as applied by external auditors, audit committee members and other directors, financial executives, and internal auditors—in the overall effort to deter and detect financial reporting fraud. The first webinar, “The Etiquette and Ethics of Skepticism,” was released on October 1. Future webinars in the series include “Skepticism and the Audit Committee” (Oct. 29); “Skepticism and the Financial Executive” (Nov. 5); and “Skepticism and the Internal Auditor” (Nov. 12). The series will conclude with a white paper that will summarize webinar content and feature additional resources for skepticism.

The Skepticism webinar series, including “Skepticism and the External Auditor,” is available at http://www.nacdonline.org/skepticism.