Rotation and first-year audit problems.
A commonly cited argument against rotation is the increased probability of an audit failure during the first year of an engagement.
However, all evidence on first-year audit failures has been obtained in an environment without mandatory rotation.
First-year failures may have occurred because of poorly trained audit staff, or after a low-ball bid for a new engagement, or any number of other factors that could influence audit quality.
These potential confounding effects make it impossible to extrapolate what would happen under mandatory rotation.
The relevant question seems to be can a CPA firm plan and conduct a high-quality, low-risk audit inthe first year of an engagement? Given the state of technology in the auditing and assurance services industry, the training available to people who enter the profession, and the amount of guidance provided by GAAS, any serious effort to conduct a high-quality audit can and will succeed.
While audit costs are apt to increase, the relevant question is how much are shareholders willing to pay for a high-quality independent audit?
When you realistically consider all the discretionary costs involved in both the management and oversight of a publicly owned company, it is hard to imagine shareholders or their independent board representatives becoming overly concerned about the costs of a high-quality independent audit.