（1997）Assurance service opportunities：Implications for academia（Elliot）.pdfVIP

© 1997 American Accounting Association Accounting Horizons Vol. 1 1 No. 4 December 1997 pp. 61-74 COMMENTARY Robert K. Elliott Robert K. Elliott is Partner at KPMG Peat Marwick LLP and Former Chair of the AICPA Special Committee on Assurance Services. Assurance Service Opportunities: Implications for Academia The market for audits has been flat for a entities customers, employees, managers, di- number of years with no clear prospect of a rectors, and suppliers of goods and services). turnaround. The AICPAs Special Committee Tbe what refers to the service provided (which on Assurance Services (1997) publicized that will embrace assurance on nonfinancial infor- fact and responded by identifying new services mation and systems). The how refers to the and recommending processes for the ongoing service-delivery technologies (which will in- identification and development of additional clude real-time audit techniques, as well as services. The premise was always to build on evaluation of encryption, firewall strategies the audit tradition, and steady (though not ris- and database design). ing) demand for audits was projected into the Services will include providing assurance future. on nonfinancial information and on all sorts The audit tradition is a professional asset of information systems. The assurances may of incalculable value. It derives from the mar- pertain to the relevance as well as the reli- ketplace need for high-quality, decision-mak- ability of the information. Servi