On September 28 and 29, the IV National Forum of Small and Medium Audit Firms was held in Seville, organized by the REA + REGA Auditors of the CGE and the Andalusian Council of Economist Colleges, with the Seville Economists’ Association and the College of Commercial Owners of Seville as hosts. More than 200 auditors gathered at the meeting with the slogan “Audit: Information and Transparency in defence of SMEs”. In its second edition, this Forum was held in Almeria.
This Forum was an initiative that started from the Directive Council of the REA + REGA (auditors’ corporation of the General Council of Economists) aware of the scenario in which the SME auditors are, due to the regulation of the profession focused on a greater control of the same and that supposes every time a greater dedication of time and resources for the small and medium offices.
This Forum is coordinated, among others, by Ana Moreno Artés, Partner of the Public Auditors Group who has stated that “both the Audit Corporation REA + REGA and the schools themselves are concerned about their members and these meetings help them to understand what is happening and help them to defend their presence in the market with full competitive powers “.
The Forum was inaugurated by Valentín Pich, President of the General Council of Economist Colleges and by Guillermo Sierra, Dean of the Association of Economists of Seville. It participated, among others, Carlos Puig de Travy, President of the REA + REGA Auditors of the CGE, Lorenzo Lara, Vice President of the General Council of Economist Colleges and Antonio López, President of the Chamber of Accounts of Andalusia. In it, a study was presented with the 10 keys of the present and future of the audit of accounts in Spain.
It is important not to forget that these audit SMEs generate a lot of employment. The activity is strongly regulated and subjected to a harsh inspection and sanctioning regime, which is why these auditors call on the authorities to calm this trend. The new Law on Audit of Accounts has recently come into force, and waiting for its regulatory development, it makes very difficult to perform the activity by a small or medium auditor due to the large number of requirements that makes it practically impossible for an individual auditor to perform the audit as they had been doing. The market, with the new regulation, tends to a concentration of activity in fewer and larger companies.
The Inaugural conference was given by the President of the ICAC Ana Mª Martínez Pina who spoke of the present and future in Accounting and Auditing and who justifies the excessive legislation in the lack of credibility in general and in particular in the financial information provided by the companies.
The closing conference was given by Professor José Mª Gay de Liébana, professor in Economic Sciences and who gave a magnificent conference entitled “Looking at Wall Street and the IBEX 35; Economic-Accounting DNA of the finances of the leaders “.
