Protecting the public interest: The role of the CA profession

The CICA recently commissioned Kroll Associates to conduct a nationwide survey of stakeholders to examine how effectively the profession is serving corporate Canada and fulfilling its public service mandate. The survey included retail investors, corporate directors, business and association leaders, and financial analysts. Top-line findings indicate strong public confidence in the ethical practices of the CA profession.

Overall, Canadian Chartered Accountants enjoy a healthy reputation for ethical practices.

Retail investors ranked CAs' "reputation for ethical practices" among the top three of the ten professions rated. On average, CAs were rated 7.18 on 10-point scale, after doctors (8.05) and university professors (7.48). Almost half (46%to) of the respondents rated CAs "8" or above.

* Within the business community, CAs enjoy an even stronger reputation for ethical practices: CAs were rated highest among the ten professions (mean rating of 8.26 on 10-point scale).

The research also suggests that there may be an opportunity to educate the

public on corporate governance and the crucial role of audit committees.

Most (83%) business people believe audit committees can play a "determining role in the quality of financial reporting".

Despite the importance of audit committees to the quality of vital information, only 26% of retail investors said they had a good understanding of the role of audit committees. Half (49%) the retail investors rated their understanding of audit committees as poor or "didn't know".

The business community has confidence in the quality of Canadian audited financial statements.

74% of business people rate the overall quality of audited financial statements as "4" or "5" (on a 5-point scale, 5 being "excellent" and 1 being "poor"). The mean rating was 3.8 out of 5.0.

* Most (86%) also believe that the quality of audited financial statements has either "improved" (44%) or "stayed the same" (42%) over the past five years.

Improvements were generally attributed to higher professional standards and more complete guidelines. 77% believe auditors rigorously follow "a combination of set practices and case-by-case procedures".

CICA forum will publish more results from this study in upcoming issues.