The Auditing profession's role in terms of accountability: A South African perspective

The Auditing profession has been dominated globally and locally by what we knew as the Big Five auditing firms until the collapse of Enron which led to the demise of Arthur Andersen, the auditors of Enron. Auditing firms and its auditors have been implicated in fraudulent transactions, negligence and dishonest practices. The focus of this paper is to highlight the role of the Auditing profession's responsibility in terms of accountability. The method of data collection included document analyses of case studies implicating chartered accountants and auditors involved in fraudulent transactions. The findings reflect that fines and disciplinary action against auditing firms and auditors should be reviewed because these are currently not austere enough to dissuade fraudulent transactions.