Sample Reflection Journal on a controversy between management services and auditing
There has always been a controversy between management services and auditing when an audit firm does the two functions to the same client. I do agree that it is not easy to resolve the controversy. In fact, there has always been a “case against” and a “case for’ performance of management and auditing services for one client. However, I believe that it is essential that an auditor acts independently and appears independent in order to deliver an audit report that represents a true and clear point of view regarding the client.
Nevertheless, there is need to address the issue of audit independence because the profession has been faced with a variety of issues concerning its independence over the recent years. Since the independence of a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) should primarily be based on his integrity, he should present himself and act with integrity in his profession. In addition, an auditor must shy away from activities and involvements, which may affect his professionalism as an auditor. This will reduce the cases of auditors being implicated in certifying faulty and wrong financial positions of an organization.
In addition, I think that audit firms should change their clients periodically to avoid cooking books of accounts to favor the management. With changes in audit firms, it would be hard for management to compromise the auditors. More so, contriving the auditors to conduct the audit in their favor would not be easy. As a result, the auditors will most probably act independently. However, there is also some disadvantages in this. For instance, change of auditors periodically means that the auditors will not understand the operations of the client fully. As a matter of basic audit principles, auditors should fully understand the functionalities of firms for them to give best results.