Unaccountable : How the Accounting Profession Forfeited a Public Trust (New ed)

A vivid snapshot of the role of accounting firms in the twenty-first century The pitfalls of the flawed U.S. auditing system crystallized in the Enron/Andersen debacle and other audit failures have prompted the nation's investors to ask, time and time again: Where were the auditors?

In Unaccountable, business journalist Mike Brewster explores the fascinating transformation of CPAs from independent voices on behalf of the shareholder to Corporate America's best friend.

He examines the implications of this shift for investors, the industry, and the economy.

Brewster's brash style and his incisive examination of the key issues facing the profession make for fascinating reading as he explains how the profession became one of the most universally respected in the Western world, only to throw away this public trust for double-digit growth and power.

Brewster questions the dubious practices of the nation's leading accounting firms, including: their history of providing consulting services to the same firms they audit; their push in the 1990s to open investment banks and law firms; their unprecedented political and lobbying power; and their tremendous influence in the boardroom. Unaccountable turns the heat on an already beleaguered profession, but also shows how the best and brightest within the profession can still save the day by implementing reform and serving not their paymaster, but the investing public.

Mike Brewster (New York, NY) is the coauthor of King of Capital: Sandy Weill and the Making of Citigroup (0-471-21416-7) and a respected writer, editor, and financial services professional.

Formerly the editor of LeadersOnline, Brewster spent seven years as the communications director at KPMG.