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X Haskins& Sells at 80 Years / The Firm will mark its 80th anniversary in March. In commemoration of this milestone, we have asked managing partner Michael N. Chetkovich to comment on where the Firm stands at 80 and where we are going as we move toward our centennial year. As a starter, what does it mean for a firm, or for any organization for that matter, to be 80 years old, or 100 or 50? What is the significance of this? MNC: A good question and one I've thought about a bit. Certainly it's a time for a measure of humility a proper occasion to recognize our great obligation to all those who built the Firm and brought it to where it is today. They have given us a sturdy vehicle to work with and move forward. However, one can overdo the celebration of history. We can't afford much time for looking back; there is too much to do today. And it's what we do today that counts. Great as tradition can be, and ours is, it should not get in the way of progress. With that in mind, what major developments do you see the profession and the Firm approaching in the years immediately ahead? MNC: The profession is in a period of considerable change and ferment and there are significant issues to be resolved which are critical to our future direction. For example, there is the broad question of the extent to which our professional societies, specifically the American Institute of CPAs, should and will act for the profession, versus the individual firms, particularly the larger ones, going their own way. We in H&S always have held to the premise that a strong professional society was essential to a strong profession. So we have felt that the best approach to broad professional questions and issues was through the Institute. There have been indications that some of our contemporaries do not feel as strongly about this philosophy as we do. Regardless of one's philosophy this is something that we must resolve if we are to move forward. Should we, for example, develop auditing standards through the profession or should each firm do it on its own? And there are ethical questions, for example: how should we distinguish between advertising and self-promotion versus properly informing the public? There is no one answer, nor a simple answer, to questions such as these. Certainly there is room for and there should be a considerable area for variation in how the individual firms operate—room for innovation and individuality. On the other hand, I would think and hope that on the broad issues that affect the whole profession we ought to try to work out the answers together, and by that I mean w^rk them out in a way that's good for the public and for the profession, as well as for the individual firms. But to go back more specifically to your question of significant developments affecting the profession and the Firm. Of course, we have to be concerned about the litigious environment we are in today, and we have to be concerned over the attitude and activity of the Securities and Exchange Commission as it affects the profession. I am confident that some of the harsher aspects will be mitigated as time goes on. Although the complaints and criticism still seem to be mounting in volume, there has to be a leveling off and a more realistic perspective taken of the audit function and what can be expected of it. You mean by the SEC and the public? MNC: Yes. The SEC, the public, the courts and the profession itself. And in this connection, I think the AlCPA's appointment of a special commission to study this whole question of audit responsibility—the commission that Ken Stringer of our Firm is a member of—is a step in the right direction. I don't know that any really concentrated study ever has been given to this most important subject. The courts, of course, have looked at it to some extent. It has been looked at in pieces or from certain points of view, but we've never really put the function under close scrutiny and asked, "What can and should be expected of an audit? How much reliance can or should be put on it?" We can't expect this group to give us complete and totally definitive answers, but certainly this could be a long step in the right direction. Auditing and accounting are rather imperfect arts practiced in what we certainly know to be an imperfect society. There is a tendency to expect a much greater degree of precision from accounting and from auditing than is inherent in the nature of these functions. None of this is to say that we, as professionals, shouldn't take a critical look at ourselves and sharpen our own perspectives and our own tools on a continuing basis. This kind of self-analysis and self-improvement is essential to progress. We know that institutions and professions, like individuals, all have to be prodded to some extent or they can become complacent and unresponsive to changing needs. We have to recognize that we have a significant responsibility to a broad public and that a great deal is expected of us. The other side, as I mentioned, is that there should not be an unreasonable level of expectation. Expectation should be consistent with the realities of the situation. This, as I see it, is the real problem of credibility; it's the gap between expectation and performance. What we must consider is whether the gap is a factor of unreasonable expectations or of substandard performance or of some combination of the two. What is the proper level of performance? And similarly, what is a reasonable level of expectation? This kind of gap is going to be with us for a long time, just as it is with other professions, such as medicine and law, and that's another thing we have to recognize. 12
Object Description
Title |
Haskins & Sells at 80 years |
Author |
Chetkovich, Michael N. |
Personal Name |
Stringer, Kenneth W. Foye, Arthur Bevins Queenan, John W. Chetkovich, Michael N. |
Portrait |
Foye, Arthur Bevins Queenan, John W. Chetkovich, Michael N. |
Office/Department |
Haskins & Sells |
Citation |
H&S Reports, Vol. 12, (1975 winter), p. 12-15 |
Date-Issued | 1975 |
Source | Originally published by: Haskins & Sells |
Rights | Copyright and permission to republish held by: Deloitte; Photograph by Roy Stevens |
Type | Text |
Format | PDF page image with corrected OCR scanned at 400 dpi |
Collection | Deloitte Digital Collection |
Digital Publisher | University of Mississippi Library. Accounting Collection |
Date-Digitally Created | 2010 |
Language | eng |
Identifier | HSReports_1975_Winter-p12-15 |