Nieuws 17 mei 2010

MARC-rapport over waarde van de accountantsverklaring

Het Maastricht Accounting, Auditing and Information Management Research Center (MARC) van de Universiteit van Maastricht heeft een internationaal onderzoek uitgevoerd onder stakeholders naar de waarde van de accountantsverklaring. De resultaten van het onderzoek zijn gepubliceerd in het rapport 'The value of audit'.

Persbericht van MARC:

New report from MARC: Value of audit

Against a background of economic difficulty in Europe, unrest in the capital markets, widespread recession and the adoption of IFRSs by many countries, the value of audit comes into sharp focus. Maastricht Accounting, Auditing and Information Management Research Center (MARC), of Maastricht University, has conducted an international study on this subject, in which we investigated the value of audit from the perspective of three important European capital market stakeholders: (1) preparers of financial reports, (2) those charged with oversight of financial reporting and (3) users of financial reports. More specifically, we conducted interviews with CFOs and audit committee members of publicly listed companies in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and surveyed a representative sample of financial analysts who follow publicly listed companies in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Our main conclusions are the following:

• From the survey of financial analysts, we conclude that the auditor's work is valuable as it increases their confidence in and reliance on financial statements.
• From interviews with CFOs and audit committee members we conclude that the audit of the financial statements meets their key expectations and is considered to be a valuable source of assurance.
• CFOs and audit committee members especially value the communications with the auditor as part of the audit process, and find it useful to work with the auditor on financial reporting issues.
• However, they also highlighted a need for re-consideration of what an audit might offer in the future in terms of insights from auditors, given an appropriate regulatory environment. For example, fruitful areas suggested include providing a holistic view of the business, risk management insights and commentary on internal control.

This research, which was commissioned by the Standards Working Group of the Global Public Policy Committee (GPPC) (1), provides a valuable resource that can help governments, policy makers and standard setters, as well as the accounting and finance profession as a whole, to make better informed decisions about the future model for audits and audit reporting. 

1. The GPPC is the global forum of representatives from the six largest international accounting networks - BDO, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Its public interest objective is to enhance quality in auditing and financial reporting.