Big Four work slammed by PCAOB
Concerns over the audit work of the Big Four have been raised following a series of limited inspections by the US accountancy watchdog.
The US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board identified significant audit and accounting issues that were missed by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst &Young. It also raised concerns about aspects of each firm’s quality control systems.
William McDonough, chairman of the PCAOB, commented that the criticisms ‘do not reflect any broadly negative assessment of the firm’s audit practices’.
He went on to praise the firms co-operative attitude during the inspections, and the fact that the firm?s had instituted changes in the working culture and practice as a result of the inspections.