The appointment of auditors needs to be nationalised with the creation of a overarching Public Company Audit Office to sign off the accounts if standards are ever to improve, argues Emile Woolf FCA  

With the audit profession under fierce scrutiny and the regulator in flux, it is critical to move forward with the creation of the replacement audit watchdog to restore confidence in the audit profession, argues Scott Henderson, CEO of ABGI

Intense pressure on the audit regulator, the FRC, has resulted in a spate of multimillion pound fines for audit firms over audit misconduct, but there are warning signs that the latest Corporate Governance Code will raise the bar before the ARGA comes into effect, argues Mark Wearden FCCA

As the collapse of Carillion and Thomas Cook have shown, auditing goodwill and impairments can represent insurmountable problems for auditors, so maximum write-off periods for these intangibles could be the only solution, argues Emile Woolf

Reform of the UK audit market is long overdue with the tripartite Kingman, Brydon and CMA reviews still not implemented. Katharine Bagshaw FCA asks whether a UK version of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) would work with its harsh penalties for lack of corporate oversight 

Oliver Passmore, partner and Alex Horsbrugh-Porter, counsel at Ogier consider the far-reaching implications for the future of the audit industry and director duties in light of recent audit failures and legal rulings on the role of auditors

With the audit process under the microscope, Menzies audit partner James Hadfield argues the case that businesses can benefit from closer scrutiny if they resist the cheapest audit option

Decisive leadership, data-led responsiveness and agility are key to creating, preserving and recovering value, but how do you achieve this, asks Andrew Wollaston, partner at EY

Jay Schulman, national leader for blockchain at RSM, examines some of the challenges Facebook’s new digital currency, Libra, will pose for accountants, including existence testing and validating transactions with user tokens, if it gets off the ground

Charity auditors are well placed to help not-for-profit organisations manage the myriad risks they face, not just financially but also around governance, safeguarding and regulation, argues Steve Harper, charities director at Haysmacintyre

The quality of auditing and trust in the profession is being eroded by those hungry for lucrative consultancy work. Angus Dent ACA, CEO of ArchOver argues that the stranglehold of the Big Four audit firms needs to be broken

Auditors will never be able to fulfil their responsibilities until regulators ensure accounting rules are fit for purpose, while pressure from client companies has led to legacy misstatements and the Big Four audit firms simply set aside contingency for multimillion pound fines, says Emile Woolf FCA