Brydon – Q&A on the future of audit
Sir Donald Brydon fielded some searching questions during the faculty's exclusive Q&A on his recommendations for the future of audit.
"Audit has become estranged from its users by the arcane precision of much of its language. Auditors need to break free of the bubble in which they communicate, declared Sir Donald Brydon within minutes of beginning his St Valentine's Day address to delegates at Chartered Accountants' Hall on the final report of his independent review (published December 2019), Assess, assure and inform: improving audit quality and effectiveness.
Inside that bubble, the term audit refers to financial statement audit; outside that bubble, the term audit encompasses numerous non-financial compliance and operational risk management matters in areas such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and cyber security. So one of Brydon's most significant recommendations is the introduction of a broader, umbrella definition (if possible enshrined in the Companies Act) that: The purpose of an audit is to help establish and maintain deserved confidence in a company, in its directors and in the information for which they have responsibility to report, including the financial statements.
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