Critically appraise the contribution of Michael Power's audit Essay

Critically appraise the contribution of Michael Power's audit explosion argument to our understanding of accountability - Essay Example However the arguments go further to claim that these assumed causes need further support and research to express that the audit expansion is not a UK phenomenon (Power, 2002:183). This paper will review the basic arguments of the of The Audit Society and reconsider the causes and consequences of the audit society. Introduction Financial auditing is a statistical practice which seeks to draw conclusions from a limited inspection of documents. These documents can be written representations or budgets. More so, the inspections can be on oral testimony and direct observation. Prior to the past traditional methods of auditing in the UK, auditing began to modify by acquiring a new broader context. This was the reason because, audit began to play a new task in both the political and the economic sector. From this point, auditing became broader and a more significant tool in the society (Reuchars, 2004:76). Causes of Audit Explosion During the 1980s, the public sector institutions were chara cterized by financial constraints. Due to this factor, auditing and inspection became highly valued and important tool of change. National Audit Office and The Audit Commission became outstanding forces in government by playing an evolving and intricate constitutional role in different ways. In the late 1990s, the pressure for change increased as well as the demand for inspection and monitoring finances (Power, 2002:183). In another word audit explosion was driven by political demands on behalf of the citizens, patients, taxpayers, students and others. The reason behind this force was to provide greater accountability and transparency of service by both the public a and the private sector. The other pressure that forced the explosion of auditing was the rise of quality assurance practices and related transformations in regulatory style. Consequences of Auditing The introduction of auditing as an agency of organizational change has no measured consideration of benefits as well as pos sible dysfunctional effects. Although cost compliance has been introduced, audit and related monitoring ideas continue to be understood critically. In this respect, it is reasonable to suggest that auditing is an ideology driven for disciplining and controlling both the public and the private sector, yet it is not because auditing is not an instrument of genuine accountability. Therefore, to analyze the consequences of auditing, it is important to focus on the development of understanding auditing deeply (Powe, 2004:27). This broader understanding of auditing is the performance measures and other forms of accounting which provide an auditable front stage of an organization. The first consequence of auditing is that many performance indicators are produced but are not edited. Such facts are evident, and the UK Audit Commission is actively shaping these performance measures to enable genuine audit and inspection. However, just because a performance measure is not audited does not mean that it was not designed with potential audibility in mind. Another consequence is the growing population of auditees. This fact brings out the evidence that shows how different games of compliance creativity are played around the audit