Recommendations of the Commission on Auditors' Responsibilities--An Analysis of the Profession's Responses.

Abstract In 1978, after more than three years of work, the Commission on Auditors' Responsibilities issued a lengthy report on the public accounting profession that identified gaps that exist between what the public expects or needs and what auditors accomplish. The report also set forth numerous recommendations for closing such gaps. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the nature and extent of the responses to the Commission's report that have been made by the public accounting profession up to September 30, 1980. A detailed Table summarizes the status of 89 of the Commission's recommendations. The author concludes that significant affirmative responses have occurred in the areas of management fraud, illegal acts, extensions of scope of services, and oversight and disciplinary processes, whereas significant non-response or negative response has occurred with respect to independence issues.