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	Big Four auditors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The Big 4 (or the Big Four) is a group of international accountancy firms that handle the vast majority of audits for publicly traded corporations.
		Before the collapse of Arthur Andersen in the wake of the 2001 Enron scandal, the auditors were known as the Big 5.
		The Big 8 became the Big 6 in 1989 when Ernst and Whinney merged with Arthur Young to form Ernst and Young in June, and Deloitte, Haskins and Sells merged with Touche Ross to form Deloitte and Touche in August.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Big_Four_auditors (336 words)

	Boston.com / Business / Big Four reviews said to show audit woes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		The first inspections of the Big Four accounting firms by the board overseeing the industry turned up significant problems in their audits of companies' books and quality control, but the findings don't constitute a "broad negative assessment," an official said Thursday.
		The inspections "identified significant audit and accounting issues that were missed by the firms and identified concerns about significant aspects of each firm's quality controls systems," the board said in a statement.
		The reports made public Thursday show that the inspectors examined the Big Four firms' "tone at the top" of management, their practices for paying, promoting and evaluating partners at the firms, the independence of auditors relative to their company clients and their audit policies.
	www.boston.com /business/articles/2004/08/26/big_four_reviews_said_to_show_audit_woes (662 words)

	CareerJournal \| The 'Big Four' Audit Firms Pose Risks for Investors
		Independent audits are a linchpin between financial statements and their credibility to the investing public.
		First, as the news media report, the Big Four are stretched to capacity and focused on their largest and most profitable clients.
		Audit committees are slowly embracing the broader universe of qualified firms.
	www.careerjournal.com /columnists/managersjournal/20050126-managersjournal.html (715 words)

	[No title]
		These findings provide motivation for auditing firms to re-evaluate the way they perform strategic assessment to be certain that their methodology does not impair judgment about evidence of misstatement that manifests in patterns of fluctuations in account balances.
		Proposed auditing standards have acknowledged the importance of performing strategic assessment during assurance engagements (AICPA 2002) and each of the big-four audit firms uses strategic assessment to gather evidence for assessing critical audit areas (Bierstaker and O’Donnell 2003).
		Because participants in the four crossed conditions were told that the company had switched to a product-differentiation strategy, those who evaluated the case with a seeded inconsistency might have expected an increase in gross profit margin because of the change in strategy.
	aaahq.org /audit/midyear/04midyear/papers/Odonnell_Schultz_Strategic_Assessment.doc (4228 words)

	Guardian \| Accountants keep non-audit work despite Enron concerns
		The big four accountancy firms earned more in consultancy fees from FTSE 100 companies than from selling audit services last year, according to a report yesterday.
		The big four audit firms - PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Ernst and Young and KPMG - suffered a 14% fall in income from their FTSE 100 audit clients, according to the survey, with the result that their earnings fell from £714m to £611m.
		All four firms have resisted hiving off other parts of their businesses, arguing it would affect the quality of audit work.
	www.guardian.co.uk /print/0,3858,5009635-103676,00.html (406 words)

	[No title]
		You have to commence a discussion of audit effectiveness with the fundamental premise that one in twelve of the college graduates that commence their careers in large firm public practice rise through the ranks to become partners in that firm.
		Although most of the high profile audit failures have been laid at Andersen’s door step, public accounting in general is failing to meet the challenging complexity of the twenty-first century financial transactions.
		The time constraints and budget limits inherent in the current audit process have been as much at fault as the so- called “independence” element that is so prominent in the public discussion of the Enron audit failure.
	www.sec.gov /rules/proposed/s72402/ltaylor.txt (1362 words)

	PwC tackles auditors' tarnished reputation (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		There are so few really big audit firms and many believed that Arthur Andersen should not be liquidated because that would inevitably result in lower competition in the market of audit services.
		Audit firms accessed international markets, gained new opportunities to provide services to multinational companies, companies doing business in Russia, Philippines, South Africa, etc. Now we are well-equipped to do it.
		I regret that there are only four big audit firms left and I see no reason why this number should be even smaller.
	www.pwcglobal.com /ru/eng/ins-sol/issues/03-07-08_sd_ve.html (2473 words)

	Independent Audit Limited: Our People (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		We believe that the traditional approach to audit serves many useful purposes but on its own is no longer enough to meet the broader needs dictated by good governance.
		Changes in public interest audit are some way off, but it’s clear that an “expertise-based” audit approach can be applied today to enhance corporate governance.
		Our vision is for Independent Audit Limited to become the top firm in its niche as the specialist financial and governance risk auditors, providing of support to Boards, offering a real alternative and chosen for the benefits its independence, values and expertise brings to shareholders.
	independentaudit.com /us/ourstory.html (464 words)

	Welcome to BIBF :: Management Team and Faculty --> Dr. Subhadra Ganguli (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		She is handling the accounting and auditing subjects and is also involved in teaching the Banking Studies Diploma Program, CAT and CPA courses.
		Previously, she was employed with KPMG for five years, which is one of the Big Four audit firms worldwide.
		Her main area of expertise was in external audit, but she was also involved in internal audit assignments as well as other special jobs.
	www.bibf.com /bio/alsarraf.html (162 words)

	The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Smaller auditors find niche
		While the Big Four are pulling back from the small-company market, a passel of regional and "second tier" national accounting firms are eagerly filling the gap.
		It was one of four firms that vied for the brewery's audit business after Ernst and Young quit the account this summer.
		Still, those second- and third-tier firms can't match the breadth and depth of the Big Four's expertise, or their sheer size: KPMG, the smallest of the Big Four, took in $3.5 billion in revenue last year, according to Inside Public Accounting; the next-biggest firm, RSM McGladrey of Minnesota, took in barely a sixth of that.
	seattletimes.nwsource.com /html/businesstechnology/2002053131_auditresignside04.html (461 words)

	Big Four non-audit fees soar - Financial Director (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		The Big Four now generates more fee income from non-audit services than audit, while the number of smaller firms registered to carry out audits has dropped, according to the new figures from the UK accountancy regulator.
		A total of 46% of the Big Four's fees came from non-audit services to non-audit clients in 2003/04, up from 38% two years ago, the Professional Oversight Board for Accountancy has revealed in its annual analysis of the accountancy industry.
		Audit firms' ability to sell advisory services to audit clients has been severely curtailed in the wake of the catalogue of accounting scandals.
	www.financialdirector.co.uk /accountancyage/news/2036898/big-four-non-audit-fees-soar (562 words)

	WebCPA \| Tools and Resources for the Electronic Accountant
		Washington - The federal government’s latest conclusion, that the Big Four have a “tight oligopoly” in auditing large companies, may serve as a wake-up call to the rest of the profession, or encourage them to get closer to their smaller company audit clients.
		Indeed, although it was not addressed in the GAO report, there has been a general market expectation that Big Four competition for the former Andersen’s largest clients may prompt them to pay less attention to their less profitable middle-market clients.
		The Big Four’s 78 percent share of the total market in 2002 is down from 82 percent of the total audit market held in 1998 by what was then the profession’s Big Eight.
	www.webcpa.com /article.cfm?articleid=1290&print=yes (949 words)

	USATODAY.com - More firms flee Big Four accountants (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Looking for ways to cut their audit costs in light of rising regulatory demands, some companies are dropping their Big Four accounting firms and deciding the status of Corporate America's version of a Good Housekeeping seal of approval isn't worth the price.
		In two-thirds of the 396 departures, it was the Big Four firm that got the boot.
		The Big Four, which rely heavily on recent college grads, assign a partner to every 10 to 12 employees, he says.
	www.usatoday.com /money/companies/management/2004-09-26-big-four_x.htm (539 words)

	Tentative Audit Review report points to gentle reform - 25 Jul 2002
		While it did raise the prospect of enforced audit rotation and limits on the non-audit work an audit firm could carry out, all of the proposals were earmarked for further consideration.
		Composed entirely of independent non-executive directors, the audit committee would serve the interests of shareholders, not management and be responsible both for appointing the auditors and approving non-audit work the auditor undertakes.
		The Audit Review team and the OFT would continue to investigate the concentration of audits among the Big Four, but would have to take account of the global nature of the corporate audit industry, she said.
	www.accountingweb.co.uk /cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=86737&d=448 (2452 words)

	Continuous Auditing: Leveraging Technology
		It is not uncommon for a significant delay to exist between the end of the reporting period and the issuance of the audit report to investors and creditors.
		From the planning stage through the issuance of the audited financial statements, it is not difficult to identify several potential areas of waste.
		An audit is a work-in-process from the time the planning stage begins until the issuance of the audited financial statements.
	www.nysscpa.org /cpajournal/2003/0503/dept/d054603.htm (1600 words)

	Long Island Press: Long Island Newspaper, News, Entertainment, Real Estate, Classifieds, Automotive, Weddings, Business ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		KPMG, one of the world's four largest accounting firms, said it is cooperating with the Justice Department in a criminal probe of tax shelters.
		Four out of five U.S. corporations today have their books reviewed, or audited, annually by the Big Four, which in addition to KPMG includes PricewaterhouseCoopers , Ernst and Young and Deloitte and Touche .
		There was once a Big Five of auditing until the Justice Department indicted the accounting firm Andersen in March 2002 on a charge related to the Enron Corp. scandal.
	www.longislandpress.com /reuters/5_ds_96715.php (595 words)

	The Business Journal (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Among the Big Four firms, KPMG recorded the smallest decline in its audit client base with a net loss of 51 companies.
		Ernst and Young finished 2003 with 76 fewer audit clients, a decline of $24.5 billion in client revenue audited and an increase of $150.9 billion in assets, and Deloitte and Touche had a net loss of 65 clients.
		Significantly, 34% of the public companies that formerly used a Big Four auditor opted for a regional or local firm as a replacement.
	www.business-journal.com /LateJan04/Big4Losses.html (476 words)

	CFO: Magazine for Senior Financial Executives: They might be giants: it's been nearly two years since Arthur Andersen ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Soon after, news broke that three of the Big Four (excluding Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu) were being sued by a single client for allegedly padding travel expenses.
		Any admission that previous audits were not as rigorous as they might have been could expose the firms to shareholder lawsuits.
		But the reality is, the Big Four audit the financial statements of the public companies that generate 99 percent of all revenues in the public sector.
	www.findarticles.com /p/articles/mi_m3870/is_1_20/ai_n6130074 (1471 words)

	news @ accountancy.com.pk > Big accounting firms not too big to fail: US audit regulator
		The top US audit regulator on Tuesday said he had privately warned the Big Four accounting firms against thinking they are too big to fail, despite fears that corporate America will not be able to handle another Andersen-style meltdown.
		The Big Four together audit roughly 99 per cent of Fortune 500 companies.
		PCAOB is conducting limited inspections of the Big Four this year before starting full-blown ones next year.
	www.accountancy.com.pk /pr_pg_newsprac.asp?newsid=431 (251 words)

	CFO: Magazine for Senior Financial Executives: The big, bad big four - Auditing - consolidation resulting in higher fees (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Another problem, he says, is that Big Four firms are so risk-averse that they often turn down new business.
		One problem, the study indicates, is the lack of a middle ground: there's a big gap between the Big Four and the second tier.
		To make sure the Big Four doesn't turn into the Big Three, the GAO report also suggests a return to previous enforcement standards in which partners and employees, rather than entire firms (as was the case with Arthur Andersen), are sanctioned for wrongdoing.
	www.findarticles.com /p/articles/mi_m3870/is_13_19/ai_108784390 (478 words)

	Accountancy Market Report 2003 - Research and Markets - Market Research Reports
		The `Big Five' became the `Big Four' accountancy firms in September 2002, when the UK practice of the worldwide accountancy firm, Andersen was bought by Deloitte and Touche.
		The 'Big Four' audit all the top 100 UK public companies and they have a large share of the accountancy market.
		Now that three of the `Big Four' have sold off their consultancy businesses, the 'Big Four' as a group have only a small presence in the consultancy market.
	www.researchandmarkets.com /reports/35281 (497 words)

	Internal Audit’s New Role (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		New internal audit directors must determine the scope of work their group should address, the skills required, the cost of the task and what framework to follow.
		“Audit committee members of NYSE companies who go through the internal audit process are likely to demand the same support at Nasdaq or private boards on which they serve.” Any company that decides to add an internal audit function—required or not—should proceed carefully, however, to get the desired results.
		When Cisco’s management and audit committee sought to upgrade its internal audit oversight prior to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and independent of the NYSE regulations, it targeted candidates who were professionally trained as internal auditors and finance experts with lots of operational experience.
	www.aicpa.org /pubs/jofa/sep2004/harring.htm (3504 words)

	GAO Releases Second Study on Accounting Competition Spitzer Big Four (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		This is not surprising as the vast majority of former Andersen clients simply stayed with their former audit team, as those personnel were gobbled-up by the remaining Big Four firms.
		As a result, the smallest of the Big Four (KPMG) has revenues that are eight times the revenues of the next biggest firm (Grant Thornton).
		We perform accounting, valuation, and consulting services that, because of regulatory or other conflict-of-interest reasons, the Big Four firms are unable or unwilling to provide.
	www.fulcruminquiry.com /article58.htm (952 words)

	ICAI panel may take a soft line on Big Four
		While some members in the committee were pressing for putting in place restrictions on the Big Four in India, the sources said the focus instead would be on empowering domestic firms.
		The sources said that there was a suggestion by some members that the Big Four be asked to change their name in India for undertaking consulting or non-audit businesses.
		The rationale was that the Big Four globally were audit firms and they should not leverage this equity to solicit consulting business.
	www.rediff.com /money/2003/aug/18icai.htm (388 words)

	Consumer Federation of America : Press Release
		WASHINGTON, D.C. - At least one of the Big Four audit firms is exploiting loopholes in the recently adopted auditor independence rules to systematically undermine the requirement that audit committees review and pre-approve any non-audit services to be provided by the company's independent auditor, five of the nation's leading consumer groups have charged.
		"Given the vehemence of Big Four firm opposition to meaningful auditor independence reforms and their virtual unanimity in arguing for weakening amendments to the auditor independence rules, we are concerned that the other firms are likely advocating an equally misleading view to their clients of audit committee responsibilities," the groups wrote.
		revising the audit fee disclosure rules to, at a minimum, remove fees for services not directly related to the audit from the audit fee category and rename the audit-related fee category to more accurately reflect its content.
	www.consumerfed.org /releases2.cfm?filename=E_Yletter_release.txt (537 words)

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