Both academics and business experts raised concerns of ‘unintended consequences’ of audit reforms to the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee, with broad disagreement over whether the changes should be led by government or business, reports James Bunney

The government needs to improve its oversight of the governance system to help local authorities cope with increasing financial and demand pressures, with a quarter of chief finance officers (CFO) from councils calling for external auditors to focus on value for money, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO)

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) wants EU legislators to intervene and ensure the European Central Bank (ECB) allows full access to documents for audits related to banking supervision, arguing that the current position prevents them from carrying out their work properly

The failure of its first audit has led the US Department of Defense (DOD) to begin the development of a central database that will record all financial transactions across its operations and aid it in managing a $692bn (£541bn) budget

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has issued a four-week consultation on the fee structure for third country auditors (TCA) in the event of a no-deal Brexit, although it has indicated that the current fee structure is unlikely to change

The number of NHS and local government bodies with significant weaknesses in their arrangements for delivering value for money is ‘unacceptably’ high, but bodies are failing to take action on auditors’ warnings, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO)

FTSE 100 energy provider SSE has appointed EY as its external auditor, subject to approval by shareholders, ending a 20-year relationship with KPMG

In this month’s round-up of audit news, the Competition and Markets Authority releases its initial findings into the lack of competition in the listed audit market with the Big Four under fire, while the Kingman review questions to competency of the audit regulator, while Patisserie Valerie drops Grant Thornton in auditor switch to RSM

US firm Crowe has agreed to pay a penalty of $1.5m (£1.18m), after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) identified significant failures in audits of Corporate Resource Services, which went bankrupt in 2015 after the discovery of $100m in unpaid federal payroll tax liabilities

The luxury car company has begun the search for a new auditor after KPMG declined to reapply for its audit tender, less than three months after the company made its debut on the London Stock Exchange

PwC has taken to the skies and, for the first time ever, has undertaken a stock count audit using a drone, as part of a wider drive to harness emerging technologies to enhance audit quality

Investors in Guernsey-based company Providence Investment Fund (PIF), which collapsed in 2016, are to sue the audit firm for £14m for what they term ‘negligence, breach of duty and breach of contract as its auditors’

Sara White, editor of Accountancy Daily, takes a look back at a turbulent year for the tax, audit and accounting profession from the challenges of Brexit, the breakdown in trust in the audit market, calls for the breakup of the Big Four audit firms and the move towards mandatory digital reporting under Making Tax Digital for VAT 

The parent company of high street cake chain Patisserie Valerie, which has been plunged into financial difficulties following the discovery of accounting irregularities, has announced it intends to appoint RSM as its auditor, replacing Grant Thornton