Revisors udfordringer med en revisionsproces: Omverdenens krav og forventninger i lyset af krisen

Abstract

This thesis discusses the auditor's challenges with the planning and reporting of an audit of financial statements. What is new in this thesis? The new perspective in this thesis is that the challenges will be seen in the perspective of the present financial crisis. Through the financial crisis the media have concentrated on a few cases, and the auditor's responsibility regarding those cases. It is an interesting perspective that the media focus on the auditor's role in the light of the financial crisis, but do they know enough about the audit when they accuse the auditor before the auditor has been taken to court. The financial crisis has affected the firms in a way they have not experienced before. The de-mand went down, and the companies' cash positions have decreased to a significantly lower level. The market has changed during the financial crisis. The interest rate is now much more difficult to determine, which affects valuation of some items in the financial statements. The stakeholders are much more aware of these uncertainties in a financial statement than before. Therefore they place demands on both the managements of the companies and the auditors. The stakeholders want to make sure that the financial statements are accurate. The stakehold-ers demand to get as much information from the financial statements as possible. Through the financial crisis the media have been focusing on the auditors, and the work they have done. Especially there has been a focus on the cases where the companies went bankrupt in the beginning of the crisis. But in the articles concerning these cases the journalists tend to accuse the auditors long before they get charges. This example of the expectation gap is inter-esting because it will be bigger in times with financial crises. An audit expectation gab can never be closed, but it can be reduced with information. "Deep pockets" of auditors are a way for auditors to compete. They use their insurance to provide protection from otherwise unin-surable risks, such as undetected fraud or sudden bankruptcy. The use of "deep pockets" does not contribute to reducing the expectation gab. Stakeholders put great value and trust in the auditors work. Therefore the stakeholders want a high standard in the financial statements. They expect that the auditors are highly qualified, and have the expertise to audit complex items of the financial statements. The financial crisis and the demand from the stakeholders challenge the auditors in their planning and completion stage. They need to be more aware of their work and the demand for more information gives more responsibility to the key members of the audit team.