Edwin Kliegman is to be commended for analyzing the draft report of the Treasury Department’s Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (“Report on auditing should be a must-read,” Accounting Today, May 19-June 1, 2008, page 6), but I must take strong exception to his view that ethics are lacking at larger firms.In fact, while ethics have always been emphasized, the large firms have stepped up their attention to professional practice, ethics and integrity over the past several years. The profession’s commitment has not gone unrecognized.
In a survey conducted for the Center for Audit Quality earlier this year, more than three quarters of audit committee members who responded rated overall audit quality “very good” or “excellent,” and 82 percent said that it has improved in recent years.
I would argue that the absence of ethics from the panel’s list of key issues is evidence of the profession’s redoubled commitment to audit quality since the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Cindy Fornelli
Executive Director
Center for Audit Quality
Washington, D.C.
