The audit manifesto - contributing a vibrant audit profession

Authenticity and trustworthiness

Mazars is built on a fundamental belief in the importance of audit to business and society. Robert Mazars established the firm with a vision to be a leader in the provision of audit and assurance services. Successive generations of partners have developed that ethos, and our methods and services, to the point where Mazars is seen as an authentic and trustworthy voice in audit and assurance for the benefit of companies, the business community, its many stakeholders and wider society. The delivery of audit and assurance continues to be at the heart of our business in 2015 and for the future.

Protecting the public interest

The many corporate scandals and economic crises of the last two decades at least keep raising two essential questions regarding the practice of audit. The first on capability: do users of audit reports trust auditors to arrive at the right answers in relation to the really big challenges facing business? The second on relevance: in a changing business world, where technology, globalisation, new business models and generational change have all become dominant features, are auditors looking at the things that truly matter, and is their opinion still relevant?

Both questions combine to suggest a business environment where audit is seen by many as a necessary evil, a commodity service that does not add value; that does not address the real indicators of company value, and that, when tested at the extremes of crises, does not protect the public interest. The audit profession is trapped in a language of risk, not only the risk to the client but also the risk to audit firms from litigation and regulatory sanction. For the audit profession it is a crisis of confidence. For the audited and their stakeholders, a crisis of trust.

Excellent, committed and independent

Mazars’ objectives are to ensure that its audit and assurance services are relevant, bring value to companies and their many stakeholders and are delivered by excellent, committed and truly independent professionals. We want to offer genuine choice in a market that has had far too little of it. We want to play our part in the long-term success and growth of our economies.

Our objectives

These objectives are based on what we believe to be a deep understanding of the history, context and importance of our profession and our firm. Mazars’ audit and assurance partners and teams should be known as:

• committed to the public interest, and to the relevant interest of investors in companies large and small;
• promoters of the importance and value of independent audits;
• practitioners of the highest calibre, supported by teams of experts and technologies that foster the best audit approaches and results, consistently dedicated to excellence in client service;
• innovators in a range of assurance offerings that enhance the transparency in, and therefore trustworthiness of, the real drivers of company value; and
• stewards of a business model – a highly successful, internationally integrated professional partnership that is paving the way in the global audit and assurance market. 

We have already taken steps in this direction. We have invested in technology and capability and have developed new services such as human rights audits, anti-bribery audits and board effectiveness and corporate culture audits.

In 2015-2016 we will continue making strides in realising this vision. This is our manifesto. This is what we believe in. We are wholeheartedly committed to it.