Cooperation between the controller and the auditor;

              Between the Controller and the Auditor
by Bernard J. Cianca
"Here come the auditors! Quick, get out the olher
books!" This is a remark we've all heard at one time or
another. It is intended to be humorous, but I wonder how
often the implied mental attitude does exist in fact:
"Give the auditor what he asks for, but don't volunteer
information; give him the records and let him figure
them out."
All too often this attitude is compounded by the even
more prevalent feeling that an audit is a necessary evil
which will inevitably disrupt office routine and cause the
essential day to day work to fall behind. I'm sure we've
all experienced the anguish on the part of client person­nel
when they protest that "our people don't have time
to pull all these vouchers," or, "why should we analyze
these accounts? You're doing the audit!"
Unfortunately this attitude has not yet gone the way
of the green eyeshades and the high stools. There still
exists an unawareness of the relationship necessary for
the mutual benefit of the auditor and his client in the
performance and objectives of an audit. An understand­ing
of this relationship is woefully overdue.
The aim of the Certified Public Accountant is to exam­ine
and evaluate enough financial data and information
to enable him to express an opinion on the fairness of
the financial statements he is asked to report upon. His
main concern is the accomplishment of a professional
audit which, for the sake of pure economics, he would
like to see performed in the most efficient manner pos­sible.
The more efficient his audit, the fewer the admin-
Bernard J. Cianca, partner in the New York office, is a
native Manhattanite who joined the firm on leaving the
service. He was an honor student and has a Bachelor's
Degree in Business Administration from the College of the
City of New York, where he majored in accounting.
Mr. Cianca is active in the AICPA and in the New York
State Society of CPAs, where he has represented the firm
on The Retail Accounting Committee for the past two
years and has also served on The Inventory and Costs
Methods Committee, The Committee on Stock Brokerage
Accounting and The Committee on Institutional Account­ing.
In addition, Mr. Cianca is a member of the New
Jersey State Society of CPAs, The American Accounting
Association, The New York State Association of the Pro-jessions,
The International Council of Shopping Centers
and The New York Credit and Financial Management
Association.
DECEMBER, 1964 11