EY - Audit Quality 2023

Our commitment to audit quality

A message from our leadership

We are pleased to present the 2023 audit quality report of Ernst & Young LLP. Audit quality is a top priority for us. We invite you to read the highlights below and download the full report to learn more about the actions we are taking to drive audit quality over the short and long term.

  • Show the full definition of audit quality#Hide

    We define audit quality as:

    • Being independent and objective and acting with integrity and professional skepticism
    • Complying with professional standards, including exercising due professional care
    • Deploying multidisciplinary teams, with appropriate skills and experience
    • Identifying risks at the companies we audit and designing appropriate audit responses
    • Leveraging a continuous improvement mindset, coupled with effective supervision and review, to pace our work and to address issues early
    • Using innovative technology to deepen our understanding of a business and obtain better-quality
      audit evidence
    • Having honest, robust and timely communications with the audit committee and management

    The result: Independent audit opinions that promote trust and confidence in the capital markets

     

A snapshot of key metrics

Our people

Percentage of newly promoted US audit partners and managing directors
45% women
25% ethnically diverse

Executing the audit

Percentage of US public company audit hours generated by EY US specialists
bar chart showing audit hours generated by EY US specialists
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    Our people

    11,270 US audit professionals, by rank, including 66% seniors and staff, 23% senior managers and managers, and 11% partners and managing directors.

    US professionals by rank who are women 
    Partners and managing directors: 35%
    Senior managers and managers: 49%
    Seniors and staff: 50%

    US professionals by rank who are racially and ethnically diverse 
    Partners and managing directors: 14%
    Senior managers and managers: 32%
    Seniors and staff: 40%

    45% of our newly promoted US audit partners and managing directors are women. 25% are racially and ethnically diverse professionals.

    Executing the audit

    1:6 ratio of Quality Network and Professional Practice partners and managing directors to all audit partners and managing directors.

    18.7% of US public company audit hours are generated by EY US specialists, including 12.5% by IT, 4.2% by Tax, 1.2% by Strategy and Transactions and 0.8% by other specialists.

Highlights of the report

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Our commitment to audit quality

We are committed to performing high-quality audits that promote trust and confidence in the capital markets.

Learn more about the actions we are taking to improve the consistency of our audits and reinforce the cornerstones of our culture. 

Download the report

Executing the audit

We are driving consistency in how we apply our audit methodology, how we manage and staff our audits, and how we use technology to help us understand risks and focus on what matters most in an audit.

Learn more about how we execute our audits.

Download the report

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Our people

We are committed to creating diverse teams and supporting our people with the career development opportunities, flexibility and benefits they need.

Learn more about how we are focusing on our people.

Download the report

Supporting our teams

We support our teams by providing coaching, interpretive guidance and enablement. Our technical support groups also consult with them on difficult accounting, auditing, SEC and independence matters.

Learn more about how our Quality Network, Professional Practice group and other resources support our audit teams.

Download the report

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Monitoring

We monitor the effectiveness of our actions and perform robust root cause analyses of positive and negative audit performance. The results provide valuable information about how we can continuously improve audit quality.

Learn more about how we monitor our audit practice to inform our efforts to continuously improve audit quality.

Download the report

External inspections

The PCAOB inspection process provides us with valuable information we use to drive continuous improvement in our audit approach and to strengthen our system of quality control.

Learn more about our PCAOB inspection results.

Download the report

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    Contact us

    Like what you’ve seen? Get in touch to learn more.

     

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