Should the PCAOB establish standards that include accounting, auditing, and ethics?
The Exhibit shows the survey respondents’ answers to that question. In general, practitioners from firms of all sizes favored PCAOB authority over quality control, ethics, and independence standards. Furthermore, a larger percentage of respondents from large firms (versus small and medium-sized firms) favored the PCAOB as the proper venue for establishing these standards: 74% favored it for quality control, 83% favored ethics, and 85% favored independence. When asked about the PCAOB’s setting auditing and accounting standards, however, approximately one-third of respondents agreed that the PCAOB should set auditing standards, and 31% agreed that the PCAOB should set accounting standards. Respondents commented that it was not the lack of auditing and accounting standards that led to corporate accounting scandals and audit failures, but rather a lack of vigilant monitoring and vigorous punishment of unethical behavior: Even though we are a small firm, we have been damaged by Enron and ot
