Carmichael Essay

473 Words2 Pages
1. Who is the author of this paper and what is his position (give description of responsibilities) with the PCAOB at the time of this article? Douglas R. Carmichael, PhD, CPA, CFE was hired as the first Chief Auditor and Director of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board from 2003-2006. His job entails a wide spectrum of duties including acting as the primary advisor on policy and technical issues as well as being the head of the professional standard setting division. 2. What does Carmichael see as the underlying mission of the PCAOB? Mr. Carmichael believes that the main directive of PCAOB is to ultimately restore the confidence of the public and investors in the “independent auditors of public companies” accomplished in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley ACT Of 2002. This Act empowers the PCAOB to register public accounting firms, perform inspection audits on these firms, investigating, disciplining and imposing rectifying sanctions and by overseeing the standards that these firms need to meet. The act also allows the PCAOB to perform other activities that will further its mission to protect the investors and look out for the public’s interest. 3. According to Carmichael, why is it so important that the public have confidence in the independent auditors of public companies? With the horrific scandals of Enron and Worldcom it is important to rebuild the public’s trust in private auditors and that the findings of the auditors prove to be correct beyond a shadow of a doubt. With confidence in independent auditors of public companies, usefulness of the audit will be intact. Auditing methods change and improve when there is a need to restore this confidence. 4. What is Professor Theodore Limperg’s basic theory of the auditor’s function? A. To quote from the article an auditor “does not betray the expectations which he evokes (…) as well as

More about Carmichael Essay

Open Document