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Prior to the development of the first standard audit opinion in the United States, auditors had the discretion over the structure and the wording of their audit opinions. Audit reports were long in an attempt to provide a clear and precise description of the work that the auditor had performed. Some other auditors used a short form similar to the British audit opinions prior to the standardization of the audit report in 1917 by the U.S Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve Bulletin of April 1917 titled “Uniform Accounting” suggested the following language for the first standard audit report opinion:

“I have audited the accounts of ….. for the period from … to … and I certify that the above balance sheet and statement of profit and loss have been made in accordance with the plan suggested and advised by the Federal Reserve Board and in my opinion set forth the financial condition of the firm …and the results of its operations for the period.”

The Federal Reserve also specifies audit procedures that should be completed and the language that should be used in the audit report. The Federal Reserve was concerned about a uniform system of accounting at this time of increasing business operations. Investors, bankers, and users of audit reports were requiring more assurance as to the integrity of balance sheets numbers. The audit report opinion was developed in order to eliminate uncertainty and increase uniformity. The statement emphasized that auditors do not verify all transactions in a company’s books but rather focused on the balance sheet figures and the statement of profit and loss.

The next noticeable update to the auditor’s opinion was introduced in the Federal Reserve Bulletin of 1929. “Verification of financial statements” was the name of the 1929 Bulletin. The update or change was the result of growing critics against the April 1917 publication of the Federal Reserve. Critics argued that the procedures in the preceding publication by the Federal Reserve failed to provide the desired information. The 1917 report was mainly about the balance sheet and the statement of profit and loss. The title of the 1929 Federal Reserve Bulletin emphasized the verification of financial statements and not just the balance sheets and statement of profit and loss. Language similar to the ones in the 1917 audit report opinion such as the word “certify” could be found in the 1929 revision. 1929 also introduced the word examine to replace “verify” which was very popular in prior years auditor report opinions. Audit sampling was introduced with the 1929 changes to the opinion. An examination of accounts implies a review of selected accounts or transactions which is in line with sampling techniques. The new terminology represented a shift from the verification or reviewing of all of the transactions of the business being audited.

I have examined the accounts of …. company for the period from …. to …. I certify that the accompanying balance sheet and statement of profit and loss, in my opinion, set forth the financial condition of the company at …. and the results of operations for the period.

With the “Audits of Corporate Accounts”, the word “certify” is removed by the word “examination” w本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。