Public Accounting litigation

As the fiscal year end for many companies nears at 12/31, public accounting auditors are looking at the work papers from last year; but not to plan for a better audit-to see where they can cut the budget this year. The partner just drove up in his Mercedes/BMW and is going to ask how the audit will get done this year without the writeoff like last year.

And the manager on the job only knows how to do what he did last year. When will public accounting wise  up and realize the importance of internal controls in the audit. Yes, SOX pushed the agenda forward a bit, but only because the firms found an opportunity for a new revenue stream. Oh, you thought it was about helping companies comply with strict regulations. COME ON! It was about revenue, stupid!

So, as the auditors ramp up for big hours that they can't charge to the client-they ponder....where is the line of risk management and how they can avoid the next costly lawsuit.