Big Four upheaval could endanger audit quality
David Hutchins
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David Hutchins
Business Performance Improvement. Mentor. Author. Course creator, Consultant. Presenter
This was a headline in today's Financial Times related to Financial Auditing following the collapse of Carillion. Bearing in mind the searching years of education that Accountants receive with almost impossible examinations at the end, it makes the 5 days Lead Auditor Training with no entry requirements look a bit vulnerable? At the very least one would expect them to have completed the DHIQC Diploma in Quality Leadership so they would know what to look for and where! www.qualitycoursesonline.co.uk and www.hutchins.co.uk
Quality Philosopher - Management Systems Specialist
6 年Thanks, Mark and Mark. Firstly the latest data on ISO 9001 certification indicates it is not a declining market. There are plenty of organisations who would give their right arms for a 7% growth on previous years turnover! There are issues with variability, for sure, as quality professionals we need to look at the full system not just the end of line inspectors (CB auditors). TC 176 has established its Brand Integrity task group to look at all aspects of education, training and consultancy as well as audit and assessment. This is too big an issue to leave to the race to the bottom /lowest common denominator approach. IMHO the 'triple badge' question is a red herring. We need to focus more on auditors who profess to hold competence across a range of industry sectors. To keep up to date with context in all of these sectors requires some significant investment of time and effort - not something 3rd party assessment can afford to subsidize - again IMHO. We are talking about a lot of these issues at the TC 176 strategy meeting in Mexico currently. While I don't currently represent TC 176 SC 2 views I do hope to influence them.
Tech-entrepreneur| Co-Creator SDG-Assessment.com - Sustainability Assurance & ESG Reporting for Business | Author Sustainability Footprints in SMEs| Management Systems & Performance Frameworks for Sustainability
6 年David Hutchins great conversation thread but the issue of auditor training should be framed from the context of competence of which training is an element the others being qualifications and experience. Business schools are failing to include sustainability on MBA programs with quality being diluted within operations management or project management. Therefore individuals enter into the profession opportunistically rather than by design.
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6 年I agree totally with the thrust of Mark Braham's replies. If quality related auditing is to achieve its intentions and add real value, a long , hard look is needed at where we are now! It is certainly not all bad, but in truth not very close to where we would like to be!
Business Performance Improvement. Mentor. Author. Course creator, Consultant. Presenter
6 年Thank you for being so frank. I usually get a more defensive response. I am willing to give you a full account of my opinion and its background if you wish. Probably to many, I come over as being one of the great unwashed but I guess that is life!
Executive Leader in Governance, Risk & Compliance Expert | Strategy | Quality | Assurance
6 年I agree David Hutchins auditors need more than the 5 day course, they need underpinning knowledge and experience in the subject matter and industry. The drive for triple or more qualified auditors within CB’s only drives tick box auditing regime. Obviously not all auditors or CB’s are the same, treat them later Le any other supplier and check credentials of both.