Budget without an Economic Philosophy

The whole institution of auditors is based on public confidence. Anything, that directly or indirectly is likely to impair this confidence is neither in the interests of the company, nor the management, nor the auditors themselves. It is pertinent to quote in this context article 7 of the Statement on Auditing Procedures of the American Institute of CPAS: "It is of utmost importance to the profession that the general public maintain confidence in the independence of independent auditors. Public confidence would be impared by evidence that independence was actually lacking and it might also be impaired by the existence of circumstances which reasonable people might believe likely to influence independence. To be independent, the auditor must be intellectually honest; to be recognised as independent, he must be free from any obligation to, or interest in, the client, its management, or its owners ... Inde- pendent auditors should not only be independent in fact; they should avoid situations that may lead outsiders to doubt their independence".