Lord Denning said: ‘What is the proper function of an auditor? It is said that he is bound only to verify the sum, the arithmetical conclusion, by reference to the books and all necessary vouching material and oral explanations, and that it is no part of his function to inquire whether an article is covered by patents or not. I think this is too narrow a view. An auditor is not to be confined to the mechanics of checking vouchers and making arithmetic computations. He is not to be written off as a professional ‘adder-upper and subtractor’. His vital task is to take care to see that errors are not made, be they errors of computation, or errors of omission or commission, or downright untruths. To perform his task properly, he must come to it with an inquiring mind – not suspicious of dishonestly, I agree – but suspecting that someone may have made a mistake somewhere and that a check must be made to ensure that there has been none. ‘
Citations:
[1958] 1 All ER 11
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Company
Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.373981