Responsibilities and functions of the independent auditor in the examination of financial statements;

              Statements on Auditing Procedure
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Issued by the Committee on Auditing Procedure, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants 270 Madison Avenue, New York 16, N. Y.
Copyright 1960 by American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
No. 30
September 1960
Responsibilities and Functions of the Independent Auditor in the Examination of Financial Statements
The purpose of this statement is to clarify that section of the Codification of Statements on Auditing Procedure re-lating to the responsibilities and functions of the independent auditor in connection with his examination of financial state-ments. Since the issuance of the Codification in 1951, ques-tions have been raised concerning the position taken therein regarding the responsibility of the independent auditor for the discovery of fraud (including defalcations and other simi-lar irregularities), and concerning the proper course of conduct of the independent auditor when his examination discloses specific circumstances which arouse his suspicion as to the existence of fraud.
The committee on auditing procedure believes that clarifi-cation is best accomplished by a restatement of the pertinent section of the Codification, Accordingly, the section of the Codification beginning on page 11 and ending at the top of page 13 is hereby revised as set forth in the following para-graphs:
Responsibilities and Functions of the Independent Auditor in the Examination of Financial Statements
1. The objective of the ordinary examination of financial statements by the independent auditor is the expression of an opinion on the fairness of their presentation. The report is the medium through which he expresses such opinion. This examination is made in accordance with generally
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