Is audit capable of evolving into something that is more consistently valued and socially purposeful? We address this fundamental question, utilizing Sennett’s (2008). The Craftsman. New Haven: Yale University Press) notion of ‘dynamic repair’ to present four key ways of thinking differently about the statutory financial audit and its core conceptual foundations. First, we highlight the capacity for audit to be regarded as a first-order function of value in its own right rather than a second-order function inherently dependent on corporate financial statements. Second, we call for a change in the assumed relationship between audit and assurance, arguing that assurance should be treated as a sub-set of audit rather than the other way round. Third, we consider the scope for audit standard setting to provide a space for ‘product’ innovation. Finally, we advocate moving beyond presumptions that the current statutory financial audit serves ‘the public interest’ to asking deeper questions about the type of society we want to inhabit and whether audit has a more direct and valued contribution to make. Collectively, such re-conceptualizations offer a broader canvas for audit innovation and can help to sustain the promise of current audit reform initiatives proposed by the Brydon Report and others.

审计是否能够演变成更具有一致价值和社会意义的事物？我们利用 Sennett (2008) 来解决这个基本问题。工匠. 纽黑文：耶鲁大学出版社）的“动态修复”概念，展示了关于法定财务审计及其核心概念基础的四种不同思考方式。首先，我们强调审计本身被视为价值的一阶函数的能力，而不是固有地依赖于公司财务报表的二阶函数。其次，我们呼吁改变审计与鉴证之间的假设关系，认为鉴证应被视为审计的一个子集，而不是相反。第三，我们考虑审计标准制定的范围，为“产品”创新提供空间。最后，我们主张超越当前法定财务审计服务于“公共利益”的假设，深入询问我们希望居住的社会类型以及审计是否可以做出更直接和更有价值的贡献。总的来说，这种重新概念化为审计创新提供了更广泛的画布，并有助于维持布莱登报告和其他人提出的当前审计改革举措的承诺。