In trying to answer these questions, it is important to understand what an audit means to
stakeholders such as shareholders, boards of directors, regulators and other third parties.
What is the purpose and scope of the independent audit and what are the limitations and
relationships that surround the audit role? This background paper draws on agency theory
to help consider such questions. The principal-agent conflict depicted in agency theory,
where principals lack reasons to trust their agents because of information asymmetries and
differing motives, is critical to understanding the development of the audit over the
centuries as well as its usefulness and purpose. However, in today’s economy where
companies’ audited financial information is widely available in the public domain, other
factors are at work and different interests come into play. In this environment, a simple
agency view of audit is unlikely to provide complete answers.