The Auditor and the British Companies.

Abstract The leaders of the accounting profession in the U.S. have frequently expressed the fear that the profession may some day be subjected to onerous statutory control. The profession in the Great Britain at the present time does practice under a more detailed statutory control than that imposed upon accountants in the U.S. This situation provides a clinical case worthy of study. The time period selected for study is that beginning in 1844 and ending with the present time. The year 1844 was selected as the beginning date because in that year the modern era of business incorporation methods came into existence, i.e., a business could be incorporated merely by a formal process of registration. That the quality of an audit of a complex set of transactions is likely to be no better than the qualifications of the auditor performing the audit would appear to be a sell-evident truism. Yet this is a quite modern concept that has emerged in comparatively recent times. Prior to 1844, the general body of proprietors tended to elect two groups of representatives. The one, designated as the managers, operated the enterprise, the other, called the auditors, ascertained that the results of the managerial activities were properly reported back to the main body of proprietors.