Abraham Briloff and his legacy

Abstract

In the profession of public accounting, there lies tremendous responsibility in the hands of auditors. External users must be able to place their trust in auditors because this financial information is essential to their decision making process. During the mid to late 1900s, Abraham Briloff, a professor, professional accountant and author saw the unethical activity that was carried out by accountants in relation to financial statement auditing. Briloff also had issues with the governance and principles that were implemented in overseeing public accounting. This paper will examine the manner in which Briloff carried out his criticism. Briloff's criticism was completely necessary, as much of what he attacked had been changed and exists as an element of current accounting regulation. After the surge of several recent corporate accounting scandals, accounting regulation and its development has become highly important to the public. The importance of regulation and advancement will also be discussed.