20 ISS 0th UE !
PQ magazine August 2019
www.pqmagazine.com / www.pqjobs.co.uk
Poor audits still rife, says outgoing FRC chief “At a time when the future of the audit sector is under the microscope, the latest audit quality results are not acceptable,” said Financial Reporting Council (FRC) CEO Stephen Haddrill. He was commenting on the FRC’s audit inspection reports of the Big 6 audit firms, where one in four (25%) were deemed below an acceptable standard. That leaves 75% of FTSE 350 audits reviewed as ‘good’, or requiring no more than limited
improvements. However, the FRC target here is 90%. Haddrill said that audit firms must identify the causes of their audit shortcomings and take rapid and appropriate action to improve quality. “Our latest results suggest that they have failed to achieve this in recent years,” he said. The FRC pointed to PwC’s ‘deterioration’ of good audits from 84% to 65%. That means
35% are now felt to be ‘unsatisfactory’. Haddrill explained that the FRC will be scrutinising closely the implementation of PwC’s new action plan to strengthen its focus on audit quality (see page 10). And while the results of KPMG have improved, the firm remains subject to increased FRC scrutiny. This will continue until “KPMG has demonstrated a sustained improvement in audit quality”.
THE CRYING GAME? Did anyone tell you that if you are taking professional accountancy exams then you have better be prepared for a “bit of a cry”? Well, over half (56%) of PQs have told us in our ground-breaking mental wellbeing survey that the exams process has left them in tears. Some 88% of respondents said they have real difficulty thinking clearly in the revision phase (‘yes’ and ‘sometimes’). A feeling of isolation is also experienced by 78% of students at some point, and just over half (55%) felt that they had no one to talk to about their accountancy exams and the stress. When asked if PQs thought their accountancy body should be doing more to safeguard students’ wellbeing then some 68% of respondents said ‘yes’, while another 17% were ‘unsure’. Many PQs admitted they struggled getting a good balance between work, studying and life. As one PQ put it: “I can’t wait until I can watch Netflix without the guilt that I should be studying instead!” Another student revealed: “My mental health has certainly worsened since I got to the more challenging ACCA papers”” Worryingly, some students felt that their professional body treated their young professionals as robots. One said: “I very much hope that accountancy bodies like CIMA change their behaviour and will support their students more.” Another explained: “I haven’t seen
PQ magazine
CAMPAIGN anything (articles, emails, etc) relating to mental health from ACCA.” One good suggestion that was made was for the accountancy bodies to have an independent student support telephone helpline available
24/7, where they can turn to for independent advice and support, or just get the stress of their chest. • See next month’s issue for more analysis of our survey’s findings.
TUTOR IN YOUR POCKET CALLING ALL ACCA SBR STUDENTS – HERE’S A UNIQUE CHANCE TO WIN YOUR VERY OWN PRIVATE TUTOR YES, YOU CAN WIN TOM CLENDON! See page 9 for all the details