The study conducted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) found that that 55% of public representatives believe that auditors can prevent a company collapse.
In addition, 34% of respondents expect that auditors can identify and report any fraud, and 70% believe that audit should be developed to prevent failures.
In the course of the study 11 000 respondents from 11 countries were interviewed. The study participants were asked what the function of audit was and how it helped the business.
The study was conducted in partnership with the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) when reviewing the audit function, its role and responsibilities, as requested by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).
Maggie McGhee, ACCA Executive Director, commenting on the results of the study, said: “Our work outlined the challenges faced by auditors, regulators and government regarding public expectations from the audit”.
Antonis Diolas, ACCA’s Audit and Business Law Manager added: “Recently, audit in the UK is under the watchful eye of the public. Our research points to the urgent need for an open dialogue between the representatives of the profession, third parties and the public. The public currently believes that audit is a problem solving. Auditors themselves are somewhat skeptical about this thesis. We need to combine our efforts to finally answer all the audit issues concerning the public”.