Audit as an Agent of Constructive Consequence and Social Change

Abstract

Audit is a powerful agent for constructive consequence and social change. Over the past two thousand years audit has played an important role in the rise of modern civilizations. Today, audit can be a powerful instrument for corporations, not-for-profit organizations and governments committed to managing for due regard to the environment and sustainable development. After briefly describing the origins of audit, what it is and is not, the article describes modern performance audit, in the private sector and a government context. The article demonstrates how audit affects the behaviour of stewards entrusted with trillions of dollars of society's resources. The article highlights the difference between traditional audit that focussed on the sins of commission, and modern performance audit that focuses on the sins of omission. The power of audit is demonstrated by a Canadian case study. The Office of the Auditor General of Canada and Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development has consciously worked as an agent of constructive consequence in the Canadian Government context. The Commissioner's niche is credible, user-friendly information on aspects of the environmental health of one seventh of the world's landmass. The article concludes with a clarion call for what audit could be, within the context of modern democratic states and increasingly transparent global corporations. Modern performance audit is a vital link in transparent, robust dialogue between stewards entrusted with unprecedented economic power and those to whom they are answerable. But why is audit called the third oldest profession?