Reaching key financial reporting decisions: how directors and auditors interact

Public discussion of corporate reporting and auditing is frustrated by the fact that directors and auditors debate issues and take decisions in private. The need to respect confidentiality means that policy makers and the public find insiders′ accounts of what happens bland and unconvincing. The resulting lack of public information is particularly dangerous at the present time when the financial crisis is prompting questions about whether new regulation is called for. Through this book, Beattie, Fearnley and Hines provide a way forward by presenting case studies that tell the reporting and auditing stories of 9 companies based on interviews with their finance directors, audit committee chairs and lead auditors. This research should be required reading for anybody who has ever wondered whether to trust what companies report. And even those who are directly involved in reporting decisions will find insights that challenge them to raise their game.