Last year was packed with debate and even disagreement about the adequacy of competition and choice in the UK audit market.

At least all seem to agree that audit quality is of paramount importance. The recent comments by Tomkin’s Ken Lever about the transparency of the Financial Reporting Council’s Audit Inspection Unit reports add an extra dimension to this debate.

The case for greater transparency in the accountancy profession is an issue that we have consistently championed over the years.

We believe that clients and potential clients should be able to see for themselves which firms really deliver the best audit work.

Many may prefer no change to the current reporting regime but I believe that this position is indefensible and fails to recognise the real issues facing finance directors and others when considering whether to change their auditors.

Audit quality plays a key role in the purchasing decision but in the absence of information, they simply ‘stick with what they know’. Unfortunately, what they know does not always mean they are getting the best.

What is needed is to find a way of providing more information to the market about the quality and performance of individual audit firms.

In the US, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board publishes firm-specific reports. The US system may not be perfect, and the content of their reports may not be ideal, but at least they publish something. The UK should surely be able to work out a solution that suits our culture but embraces greater transparency.

My own firm, somewhat unusually, volunteered for an inspection by the PCAOB earlier this year just so we could get a publicly available report on our audit quality and I was delighted that we were awarded a clean bill of health in terms of audit engagement and quality control.

What better New Year’s resolution than for all in the profession and the FRC to pay heed to the request of Ken Lever, and others, to provide greater transparency and thus help in the creation of a more dynamic and competitive audit market committed to the delivery of the highest quality audits.

Jeremy Newman is managing partner of BDO Stoy Hayward