TAX, AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY - ICCI
←
→
Transcription du contenu de la page
Si votre navigateur ne rend pas la page correctement, lisez s'il vous plaît le contenu de la page ci-dessous
TAX, AUDIT & 63
NR
N°
ACCOUNTANCY
JAARGANG 14 / 14e ANNEE
JUNI / JUIN 2019
4X/JAAR / 4X/AN
Round table current issues in the audit world: future of the
multidisciplinary audit model, etc.
Code des sociétés et des associations (CSA) et la
responsabilité des administrateurs
Verbod op en beperking van niet-controlediensten:
stand van zaken anno 2019
Comparison between the international Code of ethics
and Belgian law
Implications du CSA pour les missions du commissaire
dans les sociétés
Instituut van de Bedrijfsrevisoren
INFORMATIECENTRUM VOOR HET BEDRIJFSREVISORAAT
CENTRE D’INFORMATION DU REVISORAT D’ENTREPRISES Institut des Réviseurs d’Entreprises
SOMMAIRE INHOUD
01 Editoriaal van de Voorzitter van het IBR
Editorial du Président de l’IRE
07
Round table: Current issues in the audit world: future of the multidiscipli-
nary audit model, etc.
25
La responsabilité des administrateurs ou la recherche de l’impossible
équilibre
37
Verbod op en beperking van niet-controlediensten: stand van zaken anno
2019
58
A comparison between the international code of ethics for professional
accountants and applicable Belgian ethical requirements
68
Les implications du Code des sociétés et des associations pour les missions
du commissaire dans les sociétés : quelques observations
TAX AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY
Revue trimestrielle du Centre d’Information du
Révisorat d’entreprises (ICCI)
86
Woord van de Hoofdredacteur
De afschaffing van de controle van quasi-inbrengen in BV’s en in CV’s: een
stap achteruit voor het deugdelijk bestuur van ondernemingen
Abréviation recommandée : TAA
Driemaandelijks tijdschrift van het Informatie-
centrum voor het Bedrijfsrevisoraat (ICCI)
Mot du Rédacteur en chef
Aanbevolen afkorting: TAA
La suppression du contrôle des quasi-apports dans les SRL et les SC : un pas
en arrière pour la bonne gouvernance des entreprises COMITE DE REDACTION
REDACTIECOMITE
P.P. Berger
T. Carlier
M. De Wolf (Hoofdredacteur/Rédacteur en
chef)
T. Dupont
A. Jorissen
P. Minne
D. Schockaert
D. Smets
C. Van der Elst
SECRETARIAT DE REDACTION
REDACTIESECRETARIAAT
ICCI
E. Vanderstappen, C. Luxen et/en
S. De Blauwe
Bd. E. Jacqmainlaan 135
1000 Brussel - Bruxelles
EDITEUR RESPONSABLE
VERANTWOORDELIJKE UITGEVER
P.P. Berger
Bd. E. Jacqmainlaan 135
1000 Bruxelles - Brussel
MISE EN PAGE
VORMGEVING
die Keure/la Charte
Brugge
1
TAX, AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY
JUNI/JUIN 2019
Editoriaal van de Editorial du
Voorzitter van het IBR Président de l’IRE
Geachte lezer, Cher lecteur,
Ik wil graag gebruik maken van het forum Je profite de la tribune qui m’est offerte
dat mij door de TAA wordt aangeboden par le TAA pour vous faire part des
om mijn prioriteiten als Voorzitter van priorités que je souhaiterais mettre en
het IBR met u te delen. œuvre au cours de mon mandat de
Président de l’IRE.
Toegevoegde waarde van de Valeur ajoutée du réviseur
bedrijfsrevisor: een geweldige d’entreprises : un magnifique
springplank naar een boeiende tremplin pour débuter une carrière
carrière passionnante
Mijn eerste en ook belangrijkste prioriteit Ma première priorité qui est aussi la plus
is het promoten van ons beroep. Ik wil in importante est la promotion de notre
het bijzonder wijzen op het belang en de profession. Il me tient particulièrement
essentiële rol die door de bedrijfsreviso à cœur de rappeler l’importance et le
ren wordt vervuld ten behoeve van de rôle essentiel rempli par les réviseurs
economie. De commissarisopdracht d’entreprises au service de l’économie.
is immers essentieel en creëert een La mission de commissaire est, en
belangrijke toegevoegde effet, primordiale et crée
waarde, en dit niet enkel une importante valeur
voor onze klanten, ajoutée, non seulement
maar ook voor andere pour nos clients, mais
belanghebbenden, zoals également pour les autres
aandeelhouders, bankiers parties prenantes, tels les
en medewerkers. actionnaires, les banquiers
et le personnel.
Door hun deskundigheid, Par leur expertise, leur
onafhankelijkheid en indépendance, leur
professioneel-kritische scepticisme professionnel
instelling, alsook door mais également par
hun beroepsethiek en leur éthique et par leurs
waarden dragen de valeurs, les réviseurs
bedrijfsrevisoren bij tot het d’entreprises contribuent
Instituut van de Bedrijfsrevisoren
Institut des Réviseurs d’Entreprises
2
E. Jacqmainlaan 135, 1000 Brussel, T (02) 512 51 36, F (02) 512 78 86
Bd. E. Jacqmain 135, 1000 Bruxelles, T (02) 512 51 36, F (02) 512 78 86
Koninklijk Instituut / Institut royal
creëren van vertrouwen. Vertrouwen en à créer la confiance. Or la confiance et
transparantie zijn essentieel voor een la transparence sont des conditions sine
goed functionerende markteconomie. qua non au bon fonctionnement d’une
économie de marché.
De investeerders moeten hun Les investisseurs doivent pouvoir se
vertrouwen kunnen stellen in de fier sur les comptes publiés par les
rekeningen die door de ondernemingen entreprises. Les clients et les fournisseurs
worden gepubliceerd. De klanten en de doivent pouvoir compter sur des
leveranciers moeten kunnen rekenen op partenaires de business stables. Le
stabiele business partners. Werknemers personnel et ses représentants doivent
en hun vertegenwoordigers moeten pouvoir accepter les résultats qui leur
de resultaten die door hun werkgevers sont communiqués par leurs employeurs
worden meegedeeld, kunnen et, en outre, l’Etat doit pouvoir se baser
aanvaarden en ook moet de Staat zich op sur ceux-ci afin de déterminer la juste
deze resultaten kunnen beroepen om de charge fiscale des entreprises. Sans les
billijke fiscale lasten van ondernemingen réviseurs d’entreprises, cette confiance
te bepalen. Zonder bedrijfsrevisoren ne serait pas du même niveau et le bon
zou er niet evenveel vertrouwen zijn en fonctionnement de l’économie s’en
dit zou een invloed hebben op de goede trouverait affecté.
werking van de economie.
Ik zal dus tijdens mijn mandaat de nadruk Je ne manquerai donc pas de souligner
leggen op het feit dat bedrijfsrevisoren au cours de mon mandat que les
echte “vertrouwenspartners” zijn en réviseurs d’entreprises sont de véritables
dat hun auditopdrachten absoluut « créateurs de confiance » et que leurs
noodzakelijk zijn in het kader van een missions d’audit sont absolument
goede werking van de markteconomie. nécessaires dans le cadre d’un bon
fonctionnement de l’économie de
marché.
Maar is ons beroep aantrekkelijk? We Mais notre profession est-elle attractive ?
hebben vandaag de dag zeker een groot Nous comptons certes aujourd’hui un
aantal stagiairs in onze kantoren. Dit grand nombre de stagiaires au sein de
wil echter niet zeggen dat ons beroep nos cabinets. Cela ne signifie pas pour
als aantrekkelijk wordt ervaren door autant que notre profession soit perçue
studenten en jong gediplomeerden. comme attractive par les étudiants et les
jeunes diplômés.
We moeten de aantrekkelijkheid van Nous devons renforcer sensiblement
ons beroep aanzienlijk vergroten en l’attractivité de notre profession et en
3
TAX, AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY
JUNI/JUIN 2019
de voordelen ervan uitleggen om de expliquer les atouts afin de convaincre les
beste jongeren van onze universiteiten meilleurs jeunes issus de nos universités
en hogescholen te kunnen overtuigen. et hautes écoles. Nous ne parviendrons
We zullen hier alleen in slagen indien we à ce but que si nous pouvons, entre
onder andere de neerwaartse druk op autres, renverser la pression à la baisse
de erelonen kunnen ombuigen. exercée sur les honoraires.
Ervaring in audit maakt het mogelijk L’expérience en audit permet
kennis te maken met de meest d’appréhender le fonctionnement
uiteenlopende aspecten van de werking des entreprises de divers secteurs
van bedrijven uit diverse sectoren. dans leurs aspects les plus variés. En
Bovendien leert men als auditor niet outre, le métier d’auditeur enseigne les
enkel boekhoudkundige en financiële techniques comptables et financières,
technieken, maar vooral methodiek, mais surtout la méthodologie, la rigueur,
nauwgezetheid, organisatorische le sens de l’organisation, le jugement
vaardigheden en professioneel professionnel ainsi que des valeurs
beoordelingsvermogen, wat perfect aux jeunes diplômés, ce qui complète
aansluit bij het masterdiploma van parfaitement leurs diplômes de master.
recent gediplomeerden.
Ik ben er diep van overtuigd dat ervaring Pour ces jeunes universitaires, une
opdoen in een auditteam voor deze expérience dans une équipe d’audit est,
jonge universitairen één van de beste j’en suis intimement convaincu, une
manieren is om hun beroepsloopbaan des meilleures manières pour débuter
te starten. De stage van bedrijfsrevisor is une carrière professionnelle. Le stage
weliswaar zeer veeleisend maar is vooral de réviseur d’entreprises est certes très
de moeite waard en staat garant voor exigeant, mais il est surtout valorisant
een kwalitatief hoogstaande opleiding. et est le gage d’une formation de haute
qualité.
Het is dus de taak van het IBR om Il incombe donc à l’IRE de promouvoir
ons mooie beroep te promoten notre belle profession auprès des
bij de universiteiten en recent universités et des jeunes diplômés.
gediplomeerden. In dit verband wil ik Je suis, à cet égard, particulièrement
in het bijzonder de vertegenwoordigers reconnaissant aux représentants du
van de Jongerenraad bedanken die Conseil des jeunes qui ont pris l’initiative
het initiatief hebben genomen om alle de visiter systématiquement toutes les
Belgische universiteiten en hogescholen universités et hautes écoles du pays et
te bezoeken en ik moedig hen aan om les encourage à poursuivre leurs efforts
hun inspanningen op dit gebied voort te en ce domaine.
zetten.
Instituut van de Bedrijfsrevisoren
Institut des Réviseurs d’Entreprises
4
E. Jacqmainlaan 135, 1000 Brussel, T (02) 512 51 36, F (02) 512 78 86
Bd. E. Jacqmain 135, 1000 Bruxelles, T (02) 512 51 36, F (02) 512 78 86
Koninklijk Instituut / Institut royal
Ik zal ook aan de Stagecommissie vragen Je demanderai également à la
om de contacten met de universiteiten Commission du stage d’intensifier ses
en hogescholen te versterken om ons contacts avec ces mêmes universités et
beroep bij hen te promoten. hautes écoles afin d’y promouvoir notre
profession.
Verhoogde aanwezigheid van het IBR Présence renforcée de l’IRE auprès
bij de besluitvormers van ons land des décideurs de notre pays
De tweede prioriteit van mijn mandaat La deuxième priorité de mon mandat
die ik in dit editoriaal met u wil delen, dont je voudrais vous faire part dans
is dat we onze aanwezigheid bij de cet éditorial est que nous devons
besluitvormers van ons land aanzienlijk sensiblement renforcer notre présence
moeten versterken. auprès des décideurs de notre pays.
Ik hoop dat de federale en regionale Je formule le vœu qu’un gouvernement
regeringen snel zullen worden gevormd fédéral et que des gouvernements
na de verkiezingen van 26 mei zodat régionaux soient rapidement mis en
we contact kunnen opnemen met de place après les élections du 26 mai afin
personen die verantwoordelijk zullen que nous puissions prendre contact avec
zijn voor ons beroep. Het doel van deze les personnes chargées de suivre notre
contacten is niet een lobbyactiviteit die profession. Le but de ces contacts n’est
vaak als partijdig wordt ervaren en aldus pas une activité de lobbying souvent
wordt bekritiseerd. perçue comme partisane et décriée à
ce titre.
Mijn doel is om onze gesprekspartners Mon but est de rendre nos interlocuteurs
bewust te maken van de gevolgen voor attentifs aux conséquences sur
onze economie van de beslissingen die notre économie des décisions qu’ils
ze willen nemen. envisagent de prendre.
Als bevoorrechte waarnemer van de En tant qu’observateur privilégié de
economie, als controleur die handelt in l’économie, en tant que contrôleur
het algemeen belang, als onafhankelijke agissant au service de l’intérêt
beroepsbeoefenaars die onderworpen général, en tant que professionnels
zijn aan strikte ethische regels en onder indépendants, soumis à des règles
het toezicht staan van een instantie die éthiques rigoureuses et supervisés par
onafhankelijk is van het beroep, zijn wij un organe indépendant de la profession,
in staat om een technisch, geïnformeerd nous sommes en mesure de donner
en onpartijdig standpunt in te nemen un point de vue technique, éclairé et
5
TAX, AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY
JUNI/JUIN 2019
over wetsontwerpen die betrekking impartial sur les projets législatifs en
hebben op economische onderwerpen. matière économique.
Ik zal mijn voorzitterschap wijden aan Je consacrerai ma présidence à renforcer
de versterking van onze aanwezigheid notre présence au niveau politique et à
op politiek niveau en aan de verbetering y améliorer la légitime confiance dont y
van het legitieme vertrouwen die de jouit notre profession.
politiek heeft in ons beroep.
Versterking van de banden tussen Renforcement des liens entre les
instituten voor economische instituts des professions économi
beroepen ques
Mijn derde en laatste boodschap richt ik Mon troisième et dernier message
aan onze confraters van het BIBF en het s’adresse à nos consœurs et confrères
IAB. de l’IPCF et de l’IEC.
Ik hoop van harte dat hun fusieproject Je souhaite très sincèrement que leur
een groot succes wordt en dat ze projet de fusion soit un plein succès
onverwijld hun krachten kunnen et qu’ils puissent sans délai unir leurs
bundelen in een nieuw instituut. Verder forces au sein d’un nouvel institut. Je
hoop ik ook dat onze betrekkingen souhaite également que nos relations
positief en constructief zullen blijven. restent positives et constructives.
Ik ben ervan overtuigd dat onze Je suis convaincu que nos métiers
beroepen met elkaar zijn verbonden sont liés et complémentaires. Nous
en elkaar aanvullen. Wij hebben er avons tout intérêt à unir nos forces
alle belang bij om onze krachten te pour travailler ensemble dans le respect
bundelen en samen te werken met de nos complémentarités et de nos
respect voor onze complementariteit expertises respectives.
en onze respectievelijke expertise.
We moeten bereid zijn om met het Nous devons être disposés à discuter
nieuwe gefusioneerde instituut een avec le nouvel institut fusionné d’un
samenwerkingsproject tot stand te projet de collaboration au service de
brengen ten behoeve van onze leden nos membres et de leurs clients afin d’y
en hun klanten om zo de beroepen valoriser les métiers de chacun.
van elkeen in een positief daglicht te
plaatsen.
* *
* * * *
Instituut van de Bedrijfsrevisoren
Institut des Réviseurs d’Entreprises
6
E. Jacqmainlaan 135, 1000 Brussel, T (02) 512 51 36, F (02) 512 78 86
Bd. E. Jacqmain 135, 1000 Bruxelles, T (02) 512 51 36, F (02) 512 78 86
Koninklijk Instituut / Institut royal
Samen met de nieuwe, recent verkozen Avec le nouveau Conseil de l’IRE
Raad van het IBR zullen we ons uiterste récemment élu, je ferai le maximum pour
best doen om deze prioriteiten te réaliser ces priorités et je reste à l’écoute
realiseren, en ik sta uiteraard open voor des suggestions que les consœurs et
eventuele suggesties van de confraters. confrères pourraient formuler.
Tom Meuleman Tom Meuleman
Voorzitter IBR Président IRE7
TAX, AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY
JUNI/JUIN 2019
ROUND TABLE: CURRENT ISSUES IN THE AUDIT WORLD:
FUTURE OF THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY AUDIT MODEL, ETC.
On Friday November 16, 2018, a round table EU Audit Reform. Based on data from archival
discussion took place in the offices of the Belgian databases and a survey, they present evidence
Institute of Registered Auditors (IBR-IRE) chaired suggesting that rivalry between the largest audit
by Prof. Dr. Marleen Willekens on the topic of suppliers increased, as did audit costs, non-
one of the current issues in the audit industry, Big 4 audit market share, and joint audit rates.
namely the debate about audit-only firms and Non-audit services (NAS) fees earned by the
the future of the multidisciplinary audit model. incumbent auditor decreased.
Meanwhile, Prof. Dr. Marleen Willekens authored In addition, the UK House of Commons
a study with Prof. Dr. Simon Dekeyser and Prof. Dr. (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Ines Simac that was requested by the European Committee) recently published a report “The
Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Future of Audit”2 in which its members elaborate
Monetary Affairs (ECON)1 in which they execute a set of proposals intended to address, in their
an in-depth analysis of the evolution of market view, problems of:
concentration, competition and costs in the EU • audit quality, by stronger regulation and
market for statutory auditing before and after the much-needed clarity on the interaction
between accounting standards and the law;
1 Willekens, M., Dekeyser, S., and Simac, I., EU Statutory Audit
Reform: Impact on Costs, Concentration and Competition,
Study for the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs,
Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life 2 UK House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Policies, European Parliament, Luxembourg, April 2019, http:// Committee, The Future of Audit, Report ordered by the UK
www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2019/631057/ House of Commons, London, April 2019, https://publications.
IPOL_STU(2019)631057_EN.pdf. parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmbeis/1718/1718.pdf.8
• resilience, by increasing the capability of Marc Bihain – Secretary General of the Belgian
challenger firms through segmented market Institute of Registered Auditors (IBR-IRE).
share caps and the piloting of joint audits;
• conflicts of interest, by splitting audit and Harry Everaerts – Partner of Ernst & Young
non-audit services, ending the renewal Bedrijfsrevisoren/Ernst Reviseurs D’Entreprises,
of contracts and introducing cooling off Bedrijfsrevisor (Belgian registered auditor).
periods. This will help the culture to be tilted
away from one of facilitation by a service * * *
provider to one of challenge by an inspector;
• product usefulness, by encouraging the The written representation of the roundtable
broadening of the scope of audits to provide discussion is provided by: Steven De Blauwe, Legal
more useful information to assist the efficient Advisor of the Belgian Institute of Registered
allocation of capital in the economy. Auditors (IBR-IRE) and Scientific Advisor of the
Belgian Information Centre of Corporate Audit
Presentation of the participants (in (ICCI); Dounia Smeyers, Former legal Advisor of
alphabetical order) the IBR-IRE and Former Scientific Advisor of the
ICCI; and Erwin Vanderstappen, Head of Legal
Rudi Braes – Vice-Chair of EY EMEIA (Ernst & Affairs of the IBR-IRE and Delegate General of
Young Europe, Middle East, India and Africa), the ICCI.
Partner of Ernst & Young Bedrijfsrevisoren/Ernst
Reviseurs D’Entreprises, Bedrijfsrevisor (Belgian * * *
registered auditor).
Thierry Dupont – President (at the time of the Definition of audit quality
round table) of the Belgian Institute of Registered
Auditors (IBR-IRE), Partner of RSM Belgium. Marleen Willekens: I am very pleased to be able
to chair this round table today. As you all know,
Edelfried Schneider – President of Accountancy the topic of today is on audit-only firms and
Europe (at the time of the round table), CEO and some aspects that are linked to that topic. The
Partner of HLB Dr. Dienst & Partner GmbH & Co. goal is to exchange ideas about these matters.
KG, Koblenz, Germany; Honorary Professor at To get started, I would like to introduce the topic
the Hochschule Koblenz (University of Applied of audit-only firms. The topic is currently very
Sciences), Wirtschaftsprüfer (German public ‘hot’, but it is not a new one. The audit sector
auditor) and Steuerberater (German tax advisor). is typically one going from one regulation
to the next. The 2014 EU Reform had quite
Marleen Willekens (Chair) – Full professor of some implications and I think the intention
Accounting and Auditing and Vice dean for was to address the issue of conflict of interest
research of the Faculty of Economics and that auditors may have, which seems to be
Business (FEB) at KU Leuven. Part-time research something that is popping up in every audit
professor at BI Norwegian Business School regulation. Next, the issue of competition in
(Oslo). the audit market was also on the table, as the
audit market happens to be a very concentrated
market. With such a high level of concentration,
Presentation of the observers (in alphabetical some people jump to the conclusion that the
order) audit market is very uncompetitive, which might
or might not be the case.
Johan Barros – Senior Policy Advisor of Before we address the questions that relate to
Accountancy Europe. audit-only firms, I think it makes sense to stress9
TAX, AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY
JUNI/JUIN 2019
that audit regulations (in general) typically have the regulations the institutes and chambers are
the intention to increase audit quality. There are bringing out, then from a technical point of view
economic theories justifying audit regulation on you can judge whether it is a good or bad audit
the grounds of information asymmetry between quality. However, from a technical point of view,
the supplier of audit services (i.e. audit firm) and it can be a good quality audit but, finally the
the users in the end (i.e. stakeholders of financial expectation gap will not be closed because the
statements). Now one could make a case to company will not perform. For the time being,
have a very heavily regulated market, to make it is very clear that with all the standards and
sure that audit quality is ok or more than ok. with what the auditor is doing, for about 60 to
I would like to open the discussion on a very basic 70 percent we are looking backwards, and the
question: ‘What is in your view audit quality?’ As balance sheet is a cut for the past. There is only
said, increasing audit quality is always used as little determination in there for the future. So,
the ultimate goal of having stricter regulation. the stakeholders do not understand what the
But what do we understand by it? I know from a audit is about, as they are much more interested
researcher’s perspective it is not easy to measure in the future development.
audit quality and it is not easy to define it. When
I look at audit regulations, I do not find any clear Rudi Braes: I think delivering high-quality audits
definitions either. is the ultimate purpose of our business. Our
role as auditors is to serve the public interest
Edelfried Schneider: You made a good point in and provide confidence to the capital markets.
saying that it is not easy to define audit quality. Without delivering high-quality audits, we would
As a consequence of that it is not measurable. not fulfil that role.
It is not like a consumer product where you In our view, a high-quality audit truly challenges
define the ingredients etc. and then you say and tests the financial statements, in order to
for example: “if you have 4 percent fat, then form an opinion on whether these financial
it is good milk”, so it is very easy to measure. statements present a true and fair view.
But here, it is absolutely not measurable, so Fundamentally, an effective audit process must
sometimes I think we should go away from that deliver the right audit opinion supported by
term and perhaps speak of audit equivalence, appropriate audit evidence and professional
because in the end it is all about the correctness judgements that provide confidence to
of the audit opinion. That is the only thing which shareholders and other stakeholders.
is going public. In Germany, we have a long There are various drivers of quality on the audit
form report, which stays very confidential with firm level. This includes an audit process tailored
the management or with the board, but for the to the risks, an audit team with the right skills
external world it is only the short form report and expertise that is intellectually curious and
with the audit opinion which is going public. I independent-minded and proper consultation
think the best way to look at this is retrospective. and integration of specialists and experts. And
Whether the balance sheet so to say is “right” or what is perhaps most important is a culture in the
“not right”, nobody knows, the future will show. audit firm that seeks continuous improvement
And coming to the point of the expectation gap, and increased quality and that sets the right tone
which is very much related to the aspect of audit on professional and ethical matters including
quality, whether the company will go bust or not quality, objectivity and integrity.
in the next two or three years that you will see There are also external factors driving quality,
later on. So, in the right moment, when the audit especially through effective interaction
opinion is coming out, it is very difficult to judge between the auditor, management and the
the quality of the audit. Consequently, I think you audit committee throughout the audit process.
can go to these technical things where one says: Everyone must understand what the ‘audit
well, if you follow the standards, if you obey to10
issues’ are, why these are ‘issues’ and how these than companies that are healthy. What is often
will be resolved. not picked up is there is a lot of “Type I”-error
Last, but not least, we need to see audit quality as well, which means that auditors issue a
also in the light of future developments. Audit going concern opinion but in 95 percent of the
transformation and innovation have to be cases nothing ever happens and the company
considered as well. It is an ongoing process not survives. In other words, auditors tend to be very
limited to fixing the past but even more relevant conservative in fact. That is the other side of the
with a view to the question on how to stay fit story that is hardly ever addressed.
for the future. In that regard, we believe that the
multi-disciplinary audit firm model will become Thierry Dupont: In my view, audit quality
even more important for the future, not less. consists of three pillars, namely ethics, quality
management inside the audit firm and technical
Edelfried Schneider: I endorse everything you standards. Only if you are following these three
said, but the fact that we are frightened of is, pillars, you will have a high-quality audit and the
that we are rendering an unqualified opinion and result of this is a quality audit opinion.
two or three months later the company is bust.
That is the point we are struggling with. Whether Harry Everaerts: What could also be important
you did it right or wrong from a technical point and what stakeholders want, is that an audit
of view, that does not matter if nothing happens, is relevant. Maybe it is audit quality under
because then the investors and the public do not the current model, but from a stakeholder
know. As long as everything is going smooth and perspective, in general, you regularly hear two
fine, the question of audit quality is not relevant. things coming back, namely more assurance
It is only popping up when the regulators are on going concern and on fraud. That is really
coming out and say: “60 percent of your audits what the wider audience is looking for, so an
are wrong, there are substantial mistakes, etc.”. auditor needs to be relevant to them on those
In the Netherlands we see frontrunners of that. two aspects that are closely related to audit
quality. In order to achieve that, we go back to
Rudi Braes: We should indeed make a risk assessment and assessing where material
distinction between findings reported in the misstatements could occur as a result of fraud.
inspection reports that are caused by insufficient There I think still lies an expectation of the wider
documentation of performed audit procedures, audience, who expects us to find issues relating
and findings reported in respect of incorrect to that.
audit opinions.
Edelfried Schneider: To look back a little bit
Marleen Willekens: What I hear here, is that in history, you know that the concepts of true
there are two aspects to the concept of audit and fair view and going concern were brought
quality. On the one hand, there is the output of into EU-accountancy by the UK. When the UK
the audit process, which is the audit opinion. joined the European Union in 1973, soon after,
On the other hand there is the input to the audit in the mid-eighties, the Fourth and Seventh
process which may affect the quality delivered. Directive came out with these concepts. It was
As far as the output or the audit opinion is the first time, for central Europe and certainly
concerned, when a company goes bankrupt for Germany, that we cared about true and fair
one typically wonders where the auditor was. view and going concern. We have always known
On average, throughout the world, we see that the concept that specific law is dominating the
in fifty percent of the cases, there was no opinion general rule, but in the true and fair view concept,
that warned for going concern issues the year it is very clear that you have a principle override.
prior to bankruptcy. So that seems to be a lot. When the law is not providing a true and fair
Of course, there are much less bankruptcies view, you have to apply alternative depictions.11
TAX, AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY
JUNI/JUIN 2019
So, I think it is one of the most critical points for what is it about: how is the auditor comfortable
the profession to address going-concern issues that the key assumptions, which impacted the
and be aware of the thesis of the self-fulfilling P&L (profit and loss statement), have not been
prophecy. In my opinion, the profession should manipulated?
be bolder in defining ways in the audit opinion
to address this problem very early. Marleen Willekens: Override of internal controls
That leads to the question whether the business for example, could be in the Key Audit Matters,
model of a client is sustainable. Especially in and this seems relevant to some of the things
bank audits, the business model is very much we are discussing here.
addressed, and it is checked by the regulatory What I implied was that we may be missing
bodies, which is not the case in normal industries. something with the Key Audit Matters? Could
That is one of the great issues and it is difficult we use this in a different way?
to evaluate the business model in the course of
the audit. Thierry Dupont: I do not think that the Key Audit
Matters changed the audit work in an important
Rudi Braes: And let us not forget that way. It changed the audit report and increased
management is in first instance responsible for the information given to the external world as
the internal control environment and the true before this information was kept internal, but
and fair view of the accounts. In the UK there the audit work remains the same. However,
also seems to be a growing support for the it did increase the transparency towards the
introduction of a UK SOX. audience.
Key Audit Matters (KAM) Rudi Braes: One feels that there is an important
expectation gap between what is being reported
Marleen Willekens: When I hear all this and then and what the public believes should be reported.
the link to the audit opinion, as you suggest, We should try and close that gap via open and
the profession could maybe do a better job in constructive conversations with all stakeholders.
bringing the going concern issue more in the
awareness, so these cases do not happen. General purpose of auditing and Going
A little side question before we move on: was Concern Opinions (GCOs)
the initiative to introduce the Key Audit Matters
(KAM) not sufficient to address what would be Marleen Willekens: This is a key aspect of the
relevant for the audience to know about the definition of auditing as we were reading it many
company? years ago, namely that auditing is supposed to
be something utilitarian, it has to serve the needs
Harry Everaerts: I think the Key Audit Matters, of the public interest.
the way we saw it in Belgium as a first-year
experience, was more “where do the auditors Edelfried Schneider: I am a little bit afraid that
spend a large amount of their time?”. Mostly, the media and also the audit profession are
that is on judgmental matters, which acquire overestimating the importance of the financials
considerable management judgement. If on and the audit opinion. I remember very well
going concern there would be an issue, then when Accountancy Europe had its corporate-
there is an expectation that this would be in the reporting-conference last year and one of
opinion, rather than in the Key Audit Matters, the panelists, an investment banker from the
which tend to be the more technical matters. Netherlands said very clearly to us: “forget
However, these could be of importance for about your audit report or opinion, I make my
the numbers and what management could decisions on totally other data. I am relying on
potentially do, to manipulate them. This is my analysts and the quarterly figures, etc. When12
the audit report is coming out, it is far too late”. looking perspective. Of course, the question is
In my opinion, Carillion is a very untypical case, on how to audit it. That is a separate discussion,
because most of the rumor and the debate is but the concept of having a more holistic view,
coming from the fact that on one hand the not just historic financials, is something that
government and the public sector themselves would be relevant. Some of the non-financial
are heavily involved and that on the other hand KPIs that are used in the industry, make sense.
it created a lot of business and fees for the
profession. We should take the lead in saying Marleen Willekens: Again, I think this might
that Carillion is not a good example to call absolutely be the case, but the point is that the
for massive changes in the regulation of the audit report comes very late in the whole process
profession. There are many other insolvencies and this information might have already been
nobody cares about. In Germany for example, disseminated in another way. There are studies
we had the insolvency of KTG Agrar, which that show that once the audit opinion has been
was the first agricultural company listed on launched, there is no or very little effect anymore.
the German stock exchange. When they went However, this does not imply that without an
bust, no one cared about it. When there are auditor, we would have the same annual report.
other massive failures in the private sector (like The majority of early studies that examine the
Prokon, German Pellets and P&R) nobody really market reaction to GCOs (Going Concern
cares. Opinions) in the U.S. found large negative
abnormal returns in the weeks preceding the
Marc Bihain: When you say in your example that issuance of the GCO, but no response to the
the head of investments makes his decisions issuance of the GCO itself (Chow and Rice 1982;
before the audit, it is because he knows that Elliott 1982; Banks and Kinney 1982; Davis 1982;
everything is audited and he anticipates that it Dodd et al. 1984). Thus, it was concluded that
will be ok, because in the absence of an auditor, GCOs simply reflect what investors already knew
I am not sure that he would be able to make an about the company’s financial condition and the
opinion on the quarterly figures. Consequently, issuance of the opinion did not, of itself, provide
we are too late in our opinion, but the audit new information. However, more recent studies
opinion is still important to him I presume. If the do report effects. For example, Menon and
figures would not have been audited, it would Williams (2010) observe negative excess returns
probably make a difference. when the GCO is disclosed, and the reaction is
more negative if the GCO cites a problem with
Edelfried Schneider: What I want to point out is obtaining financing.
that we should not forget the timeline of going
concern problems. They are not occurring in
one quarter or in six months, it is always a longer
process. An instrument of early warning would
really help to bring this debate into the right
direction.
Harry Everaerts: When you are talking about
KPIs (key performance indicators), we can talk
about the topic of integrated reporting, where
you have both financial and non-financial KPIs. I
know it is slow going in terms of implementation,
but the section of integrated reporting on non-
financial KPIs could address some aspects
providing a holistic view and a more forward- Edelfried Schneider13
TAX, AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY
JUNI/JUIN 2019
Audit-only firms – conflict of interest and auditor cannot do. It might be an issue that
non-audit services (NAS) we do not always succeed in informing the
public environment about all the safeguards
Marleen Willekens: Let us move on to the next that we already have to protect the auditor’s
set of questions that relate more to the topic independence and objectivity.
of our round table discussion: audit-only firms.
Basically, the fact that there could be potentially Edelfried Schneider: I am a little more sceptic.
a conflict of interest is an important one in all In my opinion, the evaluation of the problem is
the regulation that relates to auditing. The joint very much depending on the situation and on
supply by an accountancy firm of audit services the market where the services are provided.
and also non-auditing consultancy services is For the latter, there is a big difference between
very often perceived to be something that could the work for listed firms and private firms. Say
threaten the independence of the incumbent that you advise a listed client on an acquisition,
auditor and the auditor’s opinion or his/her in this case we have often seen that in the next
objective view on the financial statements. In years it reveals that the acquisition price was
general, what are your views on this? too high. Then you are in a difficult position,
as auditor you have to say: “yes, I said it was
Thierry Dupont: This is a very old problem. We the right price, but now you have to write off.”
have addressed this problem in Belgium in 2006 That clearly shows that advising and auditing
in particular, since we had at that time a very are two different things. And this is about our
strong regulation. It went nearby further than independence. So, I would like to be stricter
in any other country in the world, namely with with non-audit services, especially depending
the one-to-one rule that places a cap on the on the market where you are in. However, I
amount of non-audit services that an auditor find that there is nothing wrong in a private
can provide in relation to the audit services that or a small company if the auditor just does
he provides for this client, and also with the list the simple tax calculation, because it is a rules
of prohibited non-audit services. In my opinion, based task and when someone else would do
the problem was also very well addressed later it, the outcome would be the same. Whenever
on in the new European regulation of 2014. there is more judgement involved, I would be
Consequently, this is no longer a problem for careful. Nevertheless, I see that the majority of
audit firms in Belgium. However, what remains the members of Accountancy Europe would
a problem is the expectation gap and the like to defend the situation as we have it from
appearance of independence as understood by the last regulation. Whether we are successful
the external world. in this or not, we will see. Personally, I think the
profession will have to offer something. We are
Rudi Braes: There are also quite a number of not in the position to rule out our own position.
non-audit services that, from an efficiency point It is up to the public to judge us.
of view, probably nobody else than the auditor
can do, for example comfort letters, etc. In Thierry Dupont: I have to say that on all the
Belgium we further have indeed a long list of financial statements that are published, in
non-audit services that the auditor is prohibited Belgium, only less than 25 percent of all fees
from doing. We also have a cap, namely the for auditors represent non-audit fees. So,
70 percent cap for the PIEs (public interest the problem is not that big. And within this
entities) and the one-to-one cap for the non- 25 percent, you already have comfort letters,
PIEs. Maybe the public and the users of financial etc.
statements in general, have limited knowledge
of the one-to-one rule or the 70 percent Marleen Willekens: Just as an aside, research
cap or the long list of non-audit services the has looked into effects of the joint supply of14
auditing and non-auditing services on proxies activity, all of which are prohibited under the PIE
of audit quality, and the evidence appears to independence rules.
be mixed. Some studies in the US (DeFond et al.
2002; Geiger and Rama, 2003, and Callaghan et Marc Bihain: I think it is proper to make a
al. 2009) find no significant association between distinction between the audit-only firm and
NAS fees and GCO reporting decisions by the audit-only client approach. An audit-only
auditors. Blay and Geiger (2013) find a negative firm means that, if you are doing an audit, and
association between the magnitude of NAS you need people with skills just for auditing and
fees and going-concern audit reporting. Mixed not to give advice. If you have the approach of
results on the relationship between NAS fees audit-only clients, it means that for one client
and GCMO reporting are also found in the U.K. you may only do auditing, and for other clients
For example, Lennox (1999) finds that NAS fees you may do the whole spectrum of services, so
were not significantly associated with auditors’ you can use your good people in audit because
GCO opinion decisions. Yet, Firth (2002) finds you need some expertise in audit, but also in
a significant negative association between NAS advisory for other clients.
fees and qualified opinions. Ireland (2003) finds
no association of NAS fees and GCMO opinions Rudi Braes: I think we should better define what
in the U.K. Basioudis et al. (2008) find a significant an audit service is (for example are comfort
negative association between the magnitude of letters included or not, etc.)? I cannot imagine
NAS fees and the issuance of a GCO, suggesting that you would have these kinds of services
the provision of NAS may impair U.K. auditor provided by someone else than the auditor.
independence. Next to that I still believe audit quality could be
improved by doing certain permitted non-audit
Rudi Braes: Certain non-audit services could services resulting in a better knowledge of the
improve our understanding of the business and organization that makes it possible to design
potential risks which could help us in designing more effective audit procedures.
more effective audit procedures and ultimately
supporting audit quality. Edelfried Schneider: You are absolutely right. We
have to think about enlarging the audit-related
Edelfried Schneider: Maybe we have a problem services and I think there is nothing wrong if you
in pretending that the audit profession can do use your knowledge and your expertise from
almost everything. It is correct that we have the audit in another additional service. In my
our fixed costs, we have our staff on board, opinion, there could be more room to do that,
and our business must be profitable, otherwise for example signing off the covenants for bank
our firms will not survive. But I think, especially contracts, etc.
when it comes to the mid-tier sector, we should
carefully explore what we can do and cannot Model of audit-only firms – impact on audit
do. So, I think there may be certain services quality
where we are absolutely not capable, and then
we should restrict ourselves. It is the reality that Marleen Willekens: Do you believe, if we move
some firms do have advisory expertise and so to a model of audit-only firms, that this will have
they can do it, others cannot. This is an aspect of a negative impact on the quality of the audit, for
competence on top of independence. all the reasons already stated?
Rudi Braes: In that case for example, this would All participants: Yes, absolutely.
be strategic advice the auditor would be asked
to give. This is more management-related Rudi Braes: I really think there is no doubt
business and an extension of management about that. Organizations are becoming more15
TAX, AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY
JUNI/JUIN 2019
and more complex. It now requires audit firms people of advisory and the consultants are in
to have expertise in artificial intelligence (AI), our firm, so they know what independence is,
cyber, analytics, robotics, block chain and other they know the values of our firm. If you take
emerging disciplines along with knowledge of that away, so that they no longer are within our
complicated IT platforms in order to be able firm, then the disconnect of integrity and values
to achieve their financial audit and reporting creates a serious risk not only to independence,
obligations. but certainly also to quality overall. If they do not
Being able to access a constant supply of diverse have the mindset, then it is very difficult to guide
professionals with specialist skills at speed and those people, because then they are kind of an
at scale helps strengthen the delivery of audit “unguided missile”.
quality. Being an audit-only firm would impede
the ability to attract the talent we need, to Marleen Willekens: Wouldn’t that then also
provide relevant insights and high-quality audits. imply that auditing would become quite
We need these skills to be in-house, provided different? Because you say you have to bring
by specialist teams who share our values and in the people from elsewhere as you need that
culture and who are part of audit teams on an kind of expertise. But what is the implication
ongoing basis. Having to outsource these skills then for what you will deliver?
could create extremely complex regulatory
compliance challenges, for example with a view Rudi Braes: I think, you simply cannot give an
to auditor independence. audit opinion if you do not have those experts.
The multi-disciplinary model helps drive I read yesterday that for mining companies
innovation across our business, transferring we have ten different experts that we involve.
skills and new thinking to enable us to serve Sometimes these experts are very large groups
companies across all their functions and advise of people. If we are auditing banks, these are
on issues holistically. It also gives us the scale and thousands of people that are working on the
resources to invest in cutting-edge technologies audit of a bank with all kinds of very specific
that are reshaping the way information is expertise. Consequently, in a model of audit-
gathered and analyzed. For example, at EY we only firms, we would not be able to attract and
now have more than 1.000 automation projects. retain those experts, because they would not
All those innovations are brought in the audit be interested. I believe it will be very difficult
process by the knowledge of people that did not for large firms, to engage them for a specific
really start their career in the audit service line. client or specific engagement, and effectively
The multidisciplinary model enables us better and appropriately manage their culture and
to attract, build and retain talent with the sort independence (including the financial interest
of specialist and technical skills increasingly aspect).
required to deliver complex audits. It enables
our people to do cutting-edge work every day, Edelfried Schneider: I agree on that. We have
helping to build their skills which, in turn, helps this standard on using the resources and results
deliver today’s more complicated audits. of another expert and I am sceptic with that,
Finally, we believe corporate reporting and audit/ because in the end all the responsibility and the
assurance needs to evolve to meet 21st century liability are with the audit firm itself. I understand
needs. For all the reasons set out before, audit the issues of ISA 600 to rely on the opinion of
and assurance will only be able to keep pace another professional colleague, so another
with those needs as part of a multi-disciplinary auditor, but to rely on experts outside the
model. profession is difficult. You are absolutely right
in your opinion, but the precondition of your
Harry Everaerts: The in-house integrity and argument is that an audit-only firm would not
culture are very important, because these be able to attract the necessary people. I am not16
sure of that and I will give two examples. First only other audit firms, but also consulting and
when these regulatory bodies were installed then lawyer firms, etc. who do not have our personal
we thought: “who is so blunt and joining those independence restrictions.
regulatory bodies to perform the inspections?”
In the end, they found enough people to do Edelfried Schneider: I understood your question
it and they are mostly coming from the firms, in a different way, namely will the model of audit-
not from other sectors. So, I am convinced only firms have an effect on the audit quality
that you will always find people who like a very and, if so, which effect. I think to implement the
secure job, are happy with their salary, and audit-only firm model would only make sense if
like a regulated eight-hour day schedule. The it would be evident that the audit quality would
second example is the public audit courts; they increase. From my perspective, the quality
are auditing the municipalities and other public would definitely not increase. In our medium-
bodies and they have excellent people. I think it sized firm, about 35 percent of all our revenues
is important that the auditor should always be a is related to statutory audits. I know others like
step ahead of those whom he is auditing in terms the Big Four audit firms that have something
of knowledge, expertise, experience, innovation, around 50 percent or more. That is a lot of
etc. If the audited organization is ahead of the man hours rendered to audit services, and you
auditor, then an outcome of an audit can never cannot say that the staff in our firms is doing,
be sufficient. in principle, a bad job, because they are also
In conclusion, I follow hundred percent what giving other services. So, I do not see why in
you are saying, but I think that if the model of an audit-only firm the staff can do better than
audit-only firms would come – and I really hope those who are doing it since years and years. If
not –, they will find people to work for them you are convinced that most of the audits, about
and, from my understanding, it would be a step 95 percent, are state of the art, then you cannot
into a state regulated and state performed audit improve them, not today, not tomorrow, not in
of companies, and this would certainly be the five years. When we are talking about stepping
case for the listed firms. up the audit quality, I think it is very clear that a
model of audit-only firms is not a step forward.
Thierry Dupont: In my opinion, the model of Our concern is that it will get worse.
audit-only firms would increase the problem
of concentration of the audit market, because Marleen Willekens: Is the multidisciplinary audit
only the very large audit firms would be able to model necessary and sufficient to guarantee
attract, retain and pay those experts working high-quality audits? May I conclude that
only on audit firms. the opinion around the table here is that a
multidisciplinary approach is value enhancing
Harry Everaerts: Even then, I think you will for an audit?
get the nine-to-five mentality of people, so it
would decrease innovation, but we really need Rudi Braes: Indeed, this is a structure that
those ideas of those people that are exposed gives the necessary bandwidth to improve the
to different things other than audit to deliver audit with the necessary people skills and with
today’s more complicated audits. We would get the sector experience. Also, the scale allows
the necessary people for sure, but again, this you to invest more in the development of
would will not likely benefit overall audit quality. audit methodologies and techniques, which
enhances the audit quality as such. And it will
Rudi Braes: To be clear, it is now already a be just as important if not more so in the future,
problem to attract enough experts to support particularly if society wants and needs audit to
the audit even in the current environment, evolve to close the expectations gaps including
because the competitors for talent are not around fraud and going concern.17
TAX, AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY
JUNI/JUIN 2019
Edelfried Schneider: You have also asked to make the business model sustainable and to
whether the multidisciplinary audit model is cover the fixed costs.
sufficient to guarantee high-quality audits.
I think you can always do better and you can Rudi Braes: I still doubt whether or not you would
always do more, but the least I can say is that it get them by paying more money because those
is the best basis for high-quality audits. people have a complete career perspective,
they want to do all kinds of different things next
to audit, making career in their own expertise. If
you cannot have a career path of that expertise
in the audit, I really think that you will not retain
them.
Edelfried Schneider: I agree with the career path
idea. I think that no one is born as an auditor and
that it would not be suitable to train someone
from the beginning to be just and solely an
auditor. The person should have some broader
business experience.
Marleen Willekens Rudi Braes: Let’s take an example from a trainee
perspective and imagine that you are able
Audit-only firms – labor market issues to attract a tax expert in an audit only firm in
Europe. Today we have tax departments where
Marleen Willekens: Let’s move on to another tax experts are challenging each other, are well
question. We have already touched a little bit trained by experts in their field of play and have
upon HRM related issues. Let’s focus on some a career path. If you separate them in an audit
labor market issues, that is on the people who only firm without comparable structure they
are doing the audits and the experts that are would lack challenge, education, support and
needed in a multidisciplinary setting. Is it true that motivation to be become better. All this would
it would be very difficult to attract skilled people certainly not improve audit quality.
in audit-only firms? Couldn’t we just bluntly
say that this is about economics and that if one Edelfried Schneider: Looking for instance at this
would pay sufficiently high compensations one from a tax inspector’s perspective, they have
would be able to attract skilled people and find a a good education and experience in practical
new price equilibrium in that market. Could this things in the review service before they join the
work like this or is this view too simplistic? fiscal audit teams. Our medium-sized firms are
facing problems to attract and keep audit staff.
Edelfried Schneider: I believe that we will not Regulations and technology are getting more
get to this equilibrium. From an economic point and more demanding and we see that we lose
of view, an audit lasts three to five months, our best auditors, who were in the profession
not more. It starts perhaps in the middle of for five or even ten years, because of the fact
November and ends with the reporting in March that IT is getting too complicated, the standards
at the latest. How do you employ the staff in rest are getting too complicated, in such a way that
of the year outside the busy season? I agree with eventually they prefer to move to general advice
you that if the remuneration is right, you get the or tax. It is becoming really difficult to attract
staff. But it would mean that audit fees would at people that are dedicated to become an auditor.
least be increased by 40% if not more in orderVous pouvez aussi lire
