THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL AUDIT IN ASSESSING COMPANY'S DEVELOPMENT ABILITY AND INCREASING INVESTORS' PROTECTION

Abstract

The development of global economic dependencies contributed to the significant demand increase for financial information about companies. Only reliable and transparent financial statements are a useful source of information.  To provide security and protection for the stakeholders, financial statements must be audited. In Poland the current thresholds obliging companies to audit financial statements are relatively high. Therefore, the vast majority of enterprises do not audit their financial statements. If financial audit is of such a high rank, why does the vast majority of small and medium enterprises do not audit their financial statements? This article attempts to answer that question and prove that the audit norms, lack of knowledge of the report’s substance, and consequently - lack of conviction about its usefulness in making accurate and effective decisions in the company, is resulting in marginal interest among entrepreneurs to use the auditors’ services.