Stella Fearnley & Vivien Beattie 
Reaching Key Financial Reporting Decisions 
How Directors and Auditors Interact

The regulatory framework for financial reporting, auditing and
governance has changed radically in recent years, as a result of
problems identified from the Enron scandal and more recently from
the drive to implement global standards. In a key regulatory
change, a company audit committee is now expected to play a
significant role in agreeing the contents of the financial
statements and overseeing the activities of the auditors. Finance
Directors, Audit Committee Chairs and Audit Engagement Partners are
required to discuss and negotiate financial reporting and auditing
issues, a significant process leading to the agreement of the
published numbers and disclosures, and to the issuing of the
auditor’s report which accompanies them, but which is entirely
unobservable by third parties.

Reaching Key Financial Reporting Decisions: How Directors and
Auditors Interact is a fascinating, behind-the-scenes
examination of this closed process. The authors draw on the results
of face to face interviews, and an extensive survey of finance
directors, audit committee chairs and audit partners, and present
nine company case studies highlighting the process of discussion
and negotiation and the methods by which the agreed financial
reporting outcome was reached. Detailed analysis of the case
studies:

* Allows those involved in the process to benchmark their
behaviours against those of others

* Enables a comparison between the previous and current
regulatory environments to see what has changed, and sheds light on
the sorts of behaviours the current regulatory framework
encourages

* Evaluates the effectiveness of the changed regulatory regime,
providing evidence relevant to current policy debates concerning
the value of audit, IFRS and the relative merit of rules-based
versus principles-based accounting standards in relation to
professional judgement and compliance

The unprecedented access and unique insights offered by this
book make it invaluable for audit firm staff and partners, audit
committee chairs and company directors involved in agreeing the
published financial statements, as well as those who have an
interest in the financial statements, but do not have access to the
negotiation process.

About the author

Vivien Beattie is Professor of Accounting and Director of
Research at the Business School, University of Glasgow. She is a
member of the Accounting Standards Board’s Academic Panel, a member
of the Accounting Standards Committee at The Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Scotland and was a panel member for Accounting and
Finance in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise conducted in the
UK. She has published over 100 academic journal articles, research
reports, books and professional articles. Her co-authored research
book Behind Closed Doors: What Company Audit is Really About
was awarded the prestigious Deloitte/American Accounting
Association Wildman Medal in 2007.

Stella Fearnley BA FCA is Professor in Accounting at the
University of Bournemouth Business School. Stella spent 16 years
with Price Waterhouse and Grant Thornton before becoming an
academic. Her research interests cover audit and financial
reporting and she has received over £700, 000 funding. She has
published over 100 articles in professional and academic journals
and national newspapers and is co-author with Vivien Beattie of
Behind Closed Doors. Stella was a member of the UK Financial
Reporting Council’s Professional Oversight Board from 2004 to 2009
and was an elected member of the ICAEW Council from 1992 to
2004.

Tony Hines MSc FCA is Head of the Department of
Accounting and Finance at Portsmouth Business School. He trained
with Coopers and Lybrand and became an academic shortly after
qualifying as a chartered accountant. Tony’s main research
interests are the Financial Reporting Review Panel and the
regulation of financial reporting and audit and he has published
widely on these issues.