Will AS5 finally ease the tense standoff?

There has been a fair amount of praise for the new AS5. The hope is that it clears the air a bit about audits and what they entail--and what they don't. So does this mean that the tense standoffs between managers and outside auditors are a thing of the past? Well, there is a lot of damage to repair. It got so bad that some executives did not even want to speak with the auditors for fear that it will raise a host of issues and lead to the discovery of more "deficient" controls. Even the auditors, who really were able to jack up their billables, are ready for calmer relationships. It does seem the auditors were out of control. By one account, a new hire meant that companies had to check and document that it checked the employee's signature; outline how it supervised the new employee onto the payroll; reconcile salary payments with bank records and so forth. The distrust will likely linger, even in this new era.   

For more:
- here's an article from the Globe and Mail
- here's white paper from CCH