The U.K.'s accounting watchdog has asked the firms to submit a plan by Oct. 23 for separating their audit and consulting businesses.
“The Big Four’s dominance has fostered a precarious market which shuts out challengers and delivers audits which investors and the public cannot rely on."
While IFIAR says the audit deficiency rate “is trending downward on an overall basis," it urges firms to continue strengthening quality control systems.
Grant Thornton assigned two partners in its Philadelphia office to audits even though the firm had concerns about the quality of their auditing work.
Among other things, the new approach will limit the ability of firms to predict which of their audits the PCAOB may select to inspect.
The more a Big Four firm pays its auditors, the fewer restatements its clients have, finds a new study.
It's especially so when audit committee members serve in the same role for other companies with the same audit-firm engagement partner, research finds.
The SEC alleges CPA Peter Messineo owned stakes in companies that the firm he worked for was auditing.
A Billy Joel favorite sparks thoughts of auditor independence.
When public companies pressure their auditors to reduce fees or they switch auditors to pay lower fees, audit quality can deteriorate, according to a study.
