A NW based advocate of audit reform is calling on the accountancy profession to take the opportunity to develop a forward-looking, proactive approach to audit in the wake of the Government’s decision to shelve the long-awaited Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill.
Rod Sellers OBE, co-author of the Disruptions in Financial Auditing and Reporting series of books, said, “After many years of discussion within the current and previous governments, plans to bolster regulation in the audit industry by creating a stronger regulatory body have now been shelved.
“The reaction of the major professional bodies has been to express regret but my view is that the move not only frees resources to concentrate on growth but, perhaps more fundamentally, it gives the accounting profession the opportunity to reassert its leadership in fundamentally reviewing how the audit process can be repurposed to meet the needs of all stakeholders in the 21st century.
Mr Sellers, a former president of ICAEW Manchester, spent more than 50 years in finance and corporate roles, including as financial director, chief executive and deputy chairman of British Vita, as well as holding board roles at Seddon Group, Ultraframe and PZ Cussons.
He was awarded the OBE in 2004 for services to business in the North West. He is a director of MSCA Legacy Limited, the company established in 2023 to administer the endowment held by the former Manchester Society of Chartered Accountants.
He continued, “This week’s developments provide an opportunity for the profession to step up and define its own future – making audit a relevant, pro-growth discipline rather than a box-ticking process imposed on companies under sufferance, many of whom don’t see value in the current process.
“I believe we need to take a proactive approach, for example applying more forward-looking analysis and producing meaningful resilience statements that set out clearly the audited company’s ability to withstand shocks – unexpected trade tariffs being a case in point!”
Reflections on the Case for Audit Reform: Seeking to Avoid Future Financial Scandals, co-authored by Mr Sellers and the late Prof. Krish Bhaskar, was published last year by Routledge.
