Guardians of the Galaxy: Public Accounting and the Public Interest.

Abstract

Many profession-changing events have occurred in the 25 years since Sikka, Willmott, and Lowe (1989) published Guardians of Knowledge and Public Interest, among them the collapse of Enron and other international corporate frauds and failures along with the demise of Arthur Anderson; the creation of the PCAOB in the U.S.; the creation of the PIOB by IFAC; and the global crash of '08 and the Great Recession. This paper extends their work both temporally and spatially by examining who, or what, is entrusted as guardians of accounting knowledge and the public interest by comparing claims of serving the public interest of the U.K., the U.S., and international professional accounting agencies and organizations. Adopting the method of Sikka, Willmott, and Lowe of examining their internal documents and public records, it finds that there are inconsistencies and contradictions of claims of advancing accounting and auditing knowledge and serving the public interest. It further finds that advancing accounting and auditing knowledge and serving the public interest is compromised as a result of conflicting understandings of what public interest is protected and how it is served.