An open letter to BDO SA’s auditing partners, colleagues and peers

We have a simple message, but one that’s critical to ensuring the legitimacy of our profession: Let’s strive to be better, not bigger.

The auditing scandals over the past few years have been highly visible and the intense media scrutiny has unfortunately tainted the entire profession. And while we know the professional failure of one firm isn’t a failure of the profession itself, it leaves people asking questions. 

As auditors, we have an almost sacred role in an economy based on trust and the public good. Shareholders, investors, employees, communities, in fact anyone affected by a company’s operations, rely on us to ensure that the financial disclosures of the companies we work for are fair and accurate. Every time that trust is broken, it breaks down the value and reputation we have built over decades.

At a time when firms can use sophisticated technology and analytics to cherry-pick any set of facts that suit them; when assets aren’t only physical but intangible, easily misunderstood, fragile and often volatile; the world needs the healthy scepticism we bring to a business. 

But let’s be better before being bigger. Be better about owning failure without trying to “PR” the story. Be better about internal governance and external oversight — it shouldn’t take a whistle-blower to blow open a story — you should have seen it coming. 

This isn’t a dig, and it isn’t dirt. It’s a call for us all to be better guardians of our profession. Growth can’t be the only goal. We all have targets to meet and incentives to aim for, but doing what is right, and doing it well, must come first. Otherwise, what’s the point? 

To learn more about our public commitment to higher auditing standards, read the BDO clarity charter at bdo.co.za.

BDO in SA.

This article was paid for by BDO SA.