Graham Marjoribanks, Head of Audit and Assurance at Scottish-based member firm Johnston Carmichael, was recently featured in leading accountancy publication AccountingWeb, discussing the after-effects of the Brydon report.

AccountingWeb’s market is mainly focused on smaller practices, but has one of the biggest independent subscriber bases in the UK for accountancy.

In the article, Graham looks at how, following the report, the trickle-down effect from the Big Four accountancy firms will drive demand for more assurance work for smaller firms, and also considers what a broader range of audit and audit-related services might look like.

He notes that there is appetite for increased regulation in the sector, and also that audit services in general will need to become more risk focused as more is expected of auditors, with a need to increase responsibility around reporting. This, in turn, will lead to a demand for increased assurance work.

He goes on to discuss how, as noted in the report, a deeper range of audit services might increase the attractiveness of the sector. This enhanced range might extend to fraud prevention and data analytics through the development of digitization.

“The evolving audit market will reward firms who accurately identify riskier engagements and either price accordingly or turn down opportunities," writes Graham.

Graham concludes by noting that auditors will need to be proactive. The sector should watch out for ‘regulatory creep’ affecting owner-managed businesses, resulting from changes at the top of the market, which would mean that audit and accountancy firms may become less beneficial to their clients.

Read the full article in AccountingWeb
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