Do the existing financial reporting and auditor reporting standards adequately protect the public interest? a case study

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

Publication Date

1-1-2008

Abstract

In 2004, City of Gardena was unable to meet its obligations on $26 million in debt. The authors examined City of Gardena financial reporting as of June 30, 2004 and 2003 to determine if the publicly available financial reports adequately disclosed the situation. Information about the long-term debt was properly displayed in the financial statements and disclosed in notes. There was no mention of the situation in the MD&A either year. The auditors’ did not include an explanatory paragraph highlighting the debt, nor did they issue a ‘substantial doubt about the ability to continue to exist as a going concern’ report. This paper examines existing accounting and auditing standards to determine their adequacy to protect the public interest.

ISSN

1096-3367

Publisher

Emerald

Volume

20

First Page

375

Last Page

386

Disciplines

Business

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

no

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