AQI 2025: inventory failures and management challenge at Big Four auditors

The quality of audit work at the Big Four has improved with EY and PwC both turning around their performance, but consistency is a problem and there is still a reticence to question management robustly, FRC inspectors find. Here we review the AQI reports on the Big Four

For the first time in five years, the majority of the Big Four audit firms have been given a 90% audit quality rating, with no firm singled out for a failed audit in the latest inspection round, although there are recurring issues with revenue recognition, weak management challenge and poor inventory checks, warns the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).

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