
Many consider the annual financial statement by an auditor to be a necessary evil. They usually submit to it in silent resentment either because it is prescribed by law or because an investor wants to be sure of his investment.
As an auditor, I have been intimately familiar with the legally mandated and “voluntary” annual balance of accounts for the last two decades. I have seldom been greeted with joyous enthusiasm in the audited companies (probably due to the nature of the thing), but I have noticed that these audits are being increasingly burdened by new irritations.