Digest - Publications & Contributions

The audit committee “needs to be able to gauge the relationship and the actions of the firm when it’s presenting to the audit committee,” says Stephen Shelton, CAE and chief compliance officer at the retailer Fossil Group based in Richardson, Texas. “Is the firm providing good, actionable advice? Is it doing so in a way that doesn’t seem self-serving?” Shelton recommends asking the auditors what alternative viewpoints might exist on a financial reporting issue the company faces. “Are they thinking on their own and providing their own views?” he asks. “Or are they generally in tune with management and reticent to depart from the view that management has?”