IIA April 2010.pdf - UAE IAA

By: Vishal Thakkar
Knowledge
Update
Restating the value of audit
The role of audit is under heightened scrutiny. The unprecedented
global financial upheaval of the past two years has seen many
commentators questioning the value of audit.
With the changing
global scene
Stay in the front row
While attention has naturally been most focused on the large
end of the audit profession, which is involved with the banks and
other major financial institutions, there are also important issues
at the smaller end of the audit market. Given the removal in
recent years of the statutory audit requirement for many entities
with turnover below £6.5m, audit is increasingly a voluntary
exercise in this sector and so needs to demonstrate the value it
brings to business.
In its new policy paper, entitled Restating the Value of Audit,
ACCA argues that against this backdrop of change, it is vital
for the accountancy profession to re-examine the role of audit
and to question whether a sufficiently strong case is being put
forward for the benefits that audit can provide to businesses, the
economy and society. We firmly believe that audit has a key role
to play as a source of public confidence in financial reporting but
note that there is currently little published research, which seeks
to demonstrate the value of audit in promoting business trust.
http://www.accaglobal.com/page/3305046
13 th Annual Global CEO
Survey
The effects of the recent downturn were far-reaching, but as
our new survey shows, CEOs continue to work to strengthen
their organisations whilst seeking opportunities emerging from
structural shifts in their industries, economies and regulatory
environments.
The 13 th Annual Global CEO Survey offers an up-close look at
how business leaders have responded to the challenges brought
about by the recession, the concerns they are facing today and
their strategies for positioning their companies for the long-term.
The recession in developed nations was the worst many CEOs
had ever experienced. The resulting rupture to business planning
and operations was clear in our survey of 1,198 business leaders
from around the world for the PricewaterhouseCoopers 13 th
Annual Global CEO Survey. Business leaders are emerging with
a healthy respect for risk, volatility and flexibility.
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-survey/download.jhtml?WT.
ac=flash_01-2010_ceo-survey-hp_download
Introducing the triple
bottom line
Once the credit crisis is firmly consigned to corporate history,
we are likely to reflect on just how dramatically it changed the
corporate landscape. Not only will it have sent some mighty
business names to the wall, it will also have been responsible for
fundamentally changing the way the business world operates.
One such example may be in the way that corporate value is
determined; will financial measures still be used in isolation as the
measure of business value? This approach will soon be challenged,
claims Rodger Hill of KPMG Advisory.
The days of purely measuring business performance by financial
result may well be numbered. In its place discerning investors will
look for something broader to measure an entity’s real contribution
and performance.
That something could be in the shape of the “triple bottom line”;
an amalgam of financial results and an assessment of the social and
environmental impacts of a business. Or, when stated differently:
People, Planet and Profits.
http://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/IssuesAndInsights/
ArticlesPublications/Press-releases/Pages/Press-release-
Introducing-the-triple-bottom-line-1-Mar-2010.aspx
About the Author:
Vishal Thakkar is a qualified
Chartered Accountant and Certified
Internal Auditor. He is currently
working with Group Internal Audit
department of Dubai World and can
be contacted at
vishalkthakkar@yahoo.com
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Eighty Years
in the Middle East
14 April 2010 15 April 2010