How we are creating long-term value for society

Assurance is the backbone of our organization. It is the largest service offering today – in terms of both revenue and people – and it will remain the largest service offering well into the future. The role of EY auditors is to serve the public interest and provide confidence to the capital markets by providing high-quality audits. The Sustainable Audit Quality (SAQ) program is our commitment to conducting globally consistent, high-quality audits sustained over time.

SAQ demonstrates our determination to keep audit quality as our primary focus. It is the single most important factor in our decision-making, and the key measure on which our professional reputation stands. Read our SAQ document (pdf) to find out more. We are strong believers in the multidisciplinary model – the skills and knowledge of EY people in other service lines provide the breadth and depth of technical skills and industry experience necessary to deliver high-quality, complex audits. It also gives us the scale and resources to invest in cutting-edge technologies that are reshaping the way information is gathered and analyzed.

External inspections

In 2015, the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) issued a challenge to the global audit networks, calling on them to achieve a 25% reduction in ‘deficient audits’ – audits with at least one significant inspection finding – by 2019 for listed public interest entities. EY achieved this goal in 2019.

Internal inspections

Internal inspections are also performed on engagements each year. EY leadership conducts the annual Audit Quality Review (AQR) program as an important element of assessing the system of quality control at the member firm, regional and global levels. The results of the AQR process are summarized globally (including for Areas and Regions), along with any key areas where the results tell us that continued improvements are required. Below are our results.

An essential way in which we manage risks and serve the public interest is to work continuously to improve the quality of all of EY’s services. This includes and goes beyond the SAQ program. Across the service lines, there is investment in recruiting, training and retaining highly qualified people in their respective disciplines. We also invest in strong Quality functions and Professional Practice functions across geographies to advise, support and enable EY people, and to implement quality initiatives to a consistently high standard around the world.

These functions advise on client engagements in real-time, and operate our global quality review program, which evaluates engagements for quality as well as compliance with EY policies and professional standards. Findings from the quality review program are reported to the Risk Management function and the Global Executive. Quality is a fundamental strategic objective for the entire EY organization – it’s embedded as one of the six global performance metrics for all of the partners across all EY services. We regularly meet with regulators and standard-setters across the world to discuss EY business, emerging trends and opportunities to advance the quality of the audit profession, and EY auditors’ role in it.

The EY Global Code of Conduct (pdf)  is a clear set of standards for business conduct. It provides the ethical and behavioral framework on which we base decisions every day. The Code is anchored in the EY values and beliefs and underpins all that we do. Independence is also an integral part of the EY Global Code of Conduct. Each of us is responsible for our own personal independence and the independence of EY. We are mindful of our own personal financial interests and EY’s relationships with clients.

EY risk management teams work across the organization to help identify, monitor and manage risk, and enables EY professionals to meet their compliance obligations efficiently and effectively. It also gives EY people the processes, tools and knowledge to take on the right opportunities; pull together the right teams; and offer EY clients the broadest range of services, in accordance with EY’s commitment to objectivity and independence.

Risk management underpins sustainable business practices and relationships and ultimately helps clients innovate and build value and trust with their stakeholders through EY services. An important element of risk mitigation and management in EY is data protection and information security framework. We protect information assets, personal data and client information, through their creation, transmission and storage, in accordance with the requirement of applicable laws, regulations and professional standards.