Editor's note

While some negative and untrue stereotyping of the audit profession as boring still lingers, writing about audit for the past eight years or so has definitely kept me busy and entertained.   

With a global reach, The Accountant and International Accounting Bulletin have followed the development of the audit profession across multiple jurisdictions, informed by our monthly rankings which look at the top networks and associations’ performance broken down into the various service lines, including audit. 

Drilling down into the numbers, our data researcher Bailey Rawden has pulled together audit data from the last three years to analyse trends and changes in audit service line revenue, with a comparison against advisory services.

Also in this edition, we look at various regulatory movements (or lack thereof) in the UK as Chartered IIA expresses its concerns over delays to the passing of the Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill, legislation that is intended to help strengthen audit regulation in the UK by allowing the FRC to transform into a new regulator with increased legal powers.

Elsewhere, from South Africa, we hear from the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) CEO Imre Nagy about how his organisation has been engaging with firms and those looking to begin a career in audit in order to boost the profile of the audit profession across the country.   

We have also been supported in the production of this supplement by Xero and the Centre for Public Interest Audit. Stuart Miller, Director of Public Policy & Tech Research at Xero, offers guidance to landlords on Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and The Centre for Public Interest Audit reflects on its unique position, bridging the divide between stakeholders and the audit firms they rely on.