The notion that the auditor’s responsibility extends to assuring financial reporting quality is consistent with generally
accepted auditing standards, which require auditors to evaluate financial reporting quality. For example, Statement on
Auditing Standards 90 requires auditors to judge “the quality, not just the acceptability, of the company’s accounting
principles as applied in its financial reporting” (emphasis added) (Statement on Auditing Standards 90).10 Similarly, Auditing
Standard No. 14 requires auditors to “evaluate the qualitative aspects of the company's accounting practices, including
potential bias in management's judgments” (emphasis added) (PCAOB, 2010).11 These standards indicate that auditors are
responsible for assuring a level of financial reporting quality that exceeds mechanical compliance with accounting
standards.