Abstract This article discusses the effect of the information revolution in the changing attest environment. It describes the attest marketplace. The influence of information technology on the attest environment and the attest function is also examined. It addresses the meaning of changing circumstances, risks and opportunities for the concept of the attest function and the range of certified public accountant services. The attest service exists to serve customers, and unless we understand our customers' problems and needs, how they are changing, and how we can best enhance the quality of information in those new circumstances, we will not survive as an industry. On the other hand, by understanding customers' circumstances, revising service postures, and delivering value, we will assure financial rewards while contributing greatly to society. Enhancing the quality of decision-making information is a great calling, but the nature of achievement in that calling is not fixed, any more than it was fixed when the detailed, fraud audit of the late nineteenth century, focused on defalcations, was considered achievement.
Robert K. Elliot (Thu,) studied this question.