Alex Hawkes

In the US you are a CPA, a ‘certified public accountant’. In the same way, presumably, that the US bill of rights stamps the founding principles of liberty and democracy on every US citizen, surely this designation for auditors makes you think harder about the seriousness of what you are doing?

A public accountant acts in the public interest, has an independent and expert view and isn’t swayed by power or money to ignore that duty.

On a fairly superficial estimation, I doubt many UK auditors would agree that their American counterparts are inherently more upright and honest than we are. The UK has had no comparable crisis to Enron.

But the concept still appeals, and the problems with US auditing, such as they are, could reflect very different problems with accounting over the pond.

The issue seems appealing because too often you find senior accounting groups in the UK issuing public statements on issues that smack more of special pleading than an enlightened view of the public interest.

ICAS research, which we report elsewhere in this issue, seems to back that up: only 42% of the general public, quizzed about accounting institutes, think they act in the public interest.

Do accountants act in the public interest? The very best do, and can talk both as lobbyists and as individuals offering an independent and expert view when necessary.

But too often there’s a suspicion that the profession exists to protect itself, its clients (often big business) and too little on behalf of the public in general. Perhaps if accountants redefined themselves, and what they do, that might change.

Alex Hawkes is the news editor of Accountancy Age