Auditing and Management Advisory Services: A Conflict of Roles?

This article deals with propriety of an accounting firm performing both auditing and management advisory services for the same client. The propriety of an accounting firm performing both auditing and management advisory services for the same client has been widely discussed since the early 1950s when accountants first began to extend their services on a large scale into areas previously untapped by accounting firms. In recent years, the discussion of this issue has intensified. Though the professional accounting literature on the subject is lengthy, discussion of the problem from the sociological perspective of role confiict cannot be found. It is interesting, however, to note that the popular press, as exemplified by the above quotation from Business Week, has alluded to the problem in terms of role conflict.