By Raman Jokhakar, Tarunkumar Singhal, Chartered Accountants
Reading Time 2 mins
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41 Audit quality
More than three-quarters (78%) of audit committee members who
participated in a recent survey commissioned by the Center for Audit Quality
rated overall audit quality ‘very good’ or ‘excellent,’ and 82% said it has
improved in recent years.
About 53% of the audit committee members agreed that overall
audit quality is ‘very good,’ while 25% described it as ‘excellent.’ About 87%
said the risk of inaccuracies in financial statements due to fraud is ‘not very
high,’ and 60% agreed that the risk declined after the passage of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) agreed that investors should have
more confidence in the markets as a result of the 2002 law.
The Internet survey of 253 audit committee members was
conducted between Jan. 7 and Feb. 20 by The Glover Park Group. Participants in
the survey represented a range of publicly-traded companies. All served on at
least one audit committee in 2007. Six in 10 served on two or more audit
committees, and half were committee chairs. About 56% began their service as
audit committee members prior to the passage of SOX.
Nearly all of the respondents (99%) said they devote more
time to their committee work as a result of SOX. About 90% said they work more
closely with external auditors.
(Source : Internet news wires)
