Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has proposed a 15-point roadmap to improve the confidence and quality of audits, in light of the fact Australians have a ‘fair and reasonable’ expectation that audit will protect them from shocks in their financial lives.
The plan was developed through extensive engagement with chartered accountants and business, investor and governance groups.
CA ANZ said auditing was ‘effective’ but that independence rules needed to be revisited as well as how conflicts of interest were mitigated.
The 15-points were broken down into three sections of conflicts and confidence, risk and relevance and quality audits.
These covered areas such as audit tenures, firm transparency and governance, corporate reporting clarity, regulatory oversight on audit quality and auditor’s fraud detection skills.
“Organisations across the private and public sectors have come under major scrutiny, particularly over the last three years,” said Amir Ghandar, CA ANZ reporting & assurance leader.
“Clearly, a more integrated and consistent approach to how Australians are covered for risks such as fraud, misconduct and corporate failure is essential.
“Australians have a fair and reasonable expectation that auditing and other lines of defence will protect them from risks and shocks in their financial and consumer lives, and will similarly provide for confidence, integrity and transparency in business.”
CA ANZ said it would continue its advocacy efforts in the parliamentary inquiry into audit which was announced earlier this year.
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