PCAOB Board Member's Speech Emphasizes Independence & Quality Issues

PCAOB Board Member Steven Harris emphasized independence and quality in his comments at the New York State Society of CPAs SEC Conference yesterday, imploring firms to get their acts together as the year-end audit season gears up.  Later in discussing how firms are using new data analytical tools to perform audits he said, "If these tools lead to improvement in audit quality, that is good for investors. But if the tools are used purely to further client relationships by providing deeper data analysis for management, some could argue that once again audit firms will perceive the audit function merely as a springboard to more lucrative non-audit engagements."  Food for thought -