ABSTRACT
Introduction The nancial statements have been the primary focus of auditors for more than 150 years. Accounting standards and auditing technology have become increasingly complex, but the purpose of the audit has not changed-to provide an opinion about the fairness of periodic nancial reports. The need for a nancial statement audit arises naturally from the needs of external stakeholders, especially investors and creditors, for reliable information about an organization’s nancial status and performance. Although organizations are able to release this information through various channels (such as corporate web sites or press releases), formal nancial statements continue to be the most e ective and e cient mechanism for communicating corporate performance to a wide range of stakeholders. Furthermore, stakeholders want to know if the nancial information they receive is reliable. Reliable nancial reporting is facilitated by the use of established accounting rules as veri ed by an external auditor and described in the auditor’s report.
