OTHER COUNTRIES that abolished the audit liability started with small companies followed by the larger ones. This would have been a better strategy rather than abolishing the audit liability for 96.5 percent of the registered Swedish companies at once. I believe that it would have been good to successively accustom all parties: the business world, banks and authorities. The fast transition may result in problems for the business world. In the long term, I only see advantages by abolishing the liability.
IN THE FUTURE, it is likely that auditing services will look different; the auditor will work onwards rather than backwards. The auditor will become a more important support function and work as a sounding board – a quite different position from today. I look forward to this exciting transformation.
COMPANIES FACING the choice to keep or to dismiss the auditor, have to think about how they are perceived by other companies, authorities and banks. If the company has several owners or board members, it has to consider insight and control. Its standpoint has to be long term. Very often, it is hard to audit an unaudited company years back. This may be necessary when a company is sold. Transformation of the audit liability is a hot subject discussed by many these days. The business world has expressed a concern that abolished audit liability will increase tax control. This picture is confirmed internationally. A company without audit will be frequently controlled – not only by tax authorities but by credit institutions. You need continued good routines to ensure high accounting quality.
Source: Target