Auditor's Talk: An Oral History of the Profession from the 1920s to the Present Day

This book is an oral history of the auditing profession in Britain from 1920s to the present day based on extended extracts from interviews with 77 past and present practitioners. Those interviewed ranged from a nonagenarian who qualified in the 1920s, to active contemporaries, and from sole practitioners to the present day heads of the Big Five accounting firms. The often candid interviews uncover a surprising variety of experience and opinions and allow a group of often fascinating individuals to tell their own stories. What emerges from this unique exercise is evidence and opinions not found in the textbooks or other sources. The interviews reveal among other matters: The typical social background and training of the chartered accountants; the nuts and bolts of the audit and the changes seen in the process over years; private matters such as the formation and internal workings of the partnerships; how clients were acquired before advertising was allowed; how fees were set and what was therelationship with clients. Respondents were also asked their opinions on the thorny issues of auditor independence; the uncovering of fraud; the commercialization of the profession; the role of the I.C.A.E.W; self-regulation, the proliferation of accounting standards and the current threat of litigation. Many had highly original views on the question "What went wrong?" in the recent audit failures like Barlow Clowes and the Maxwell Empire. Indeed, many of the respondents played leading roles in the notorious scandals either being implicated themselves or involved in the regulatory procedures.