Accounting History and the Rise of Civilization, Volume II

Introduction

Nobody planned the global capitalist system, nobody runs it, and nobody really understands it.

—Matt Ridley

Auditors evaluate the financial statements and records of organizations to determine the degree users can rely on the information presented. The U.S. Securities Acts of the 1930s required all publicly traded corporations to submit audited financial reports conducted by certified public accountants (CPAs) to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as 10-ks. Audit procedures improved over the years as auditors had to deal with increased organization complexity, especially with the growing use of computers and advanced information technologies (plus the fallout from undetected fraud cases such as McKesson & Robbins).

Income ...