株式會社의 會計監査制度에 관한 硏究 - 회계감사법제의 고찰 및 감리제도의 현상분석을 중심으로 -

Though Korean company law structure adopted audit by auditor (including audit committee, hereafter the same will apply) to companies with certain size, additional audit by independent accountant is mandatorily by further enactment. This situation was caused by the lessen from corporate scandals that financial audit by internal auditor only cannot be the effective countermeasures to prevent accounting frauds. Especially, the enormous social backlashes that are left by accounting frauds at large corporations exercise made a case for need on financial audit by specialists. However, while assessment on the efficiency of external audit is generally positive, it is true that many problems have been exposed in operational aspects of external audit. In other words, the accounting wrongdoing (financial fraud) raised by bankruptcy of Enron in 2001 left terrible aftershock not only in domestic but also in international society. Even before the aftermath of Enron disappear from Korea, savings bank related scandals poured out all over the country, commencing from Busan Savings Bank case. To make the matters worse, almost all of savings banks in trouble were revealed as being engaged in accounting frauds. It is hereby again proved by the fact that responsibilities of external auditors and their operational problems in audit are again becoming the hotly debated issue. While domestic accounting firms are concerned at one side as confidence in audit quality is deteriorating as they are chased by cutthroat competition and short term profit pursuits ahead of accounting market opening after Free Trade Agreements were signed, and on the other side concerned by the overstretched risk of lawsuits that emerge from ex post uncovering audit exemplified in savings bank crisis. Even the sense of crisis is heightened for small and medium accounting firms with inferior competitiveness when accounting market is opened as FTAs take effect. 의 In this regard, it is reported that comprehensive discussions embracing these problems were classified as 「Advancement measures for accounting system and financial audit system」and are under review by specialized department under the Financial Supervisory Commission. Identifying the cause of systemic problem or defects in our accounting and audit practice that fails to control in advance as well as pick-up accounting frauds afterwards, would be the prerequisite ahead of preparing Advancement measures for accounting system and financial audit system」. However, the phenomenon occurs that all causes are accused to the moral hazard of corporate management and certified accountants, rather neglecting the effort to investigate the cause from the current system. Even further, the situation leads to the perilous thinking that our traditional, stable and conservative technology or systems are mal-adjusted bringing in damages, while so hastily adopting revolutionary technologies or systems (ERP accounting skill, IFRS, improvement of audit etc) under the pretext of responding to global trend. Identifying the cause of failure to control in advance as well as pick-up accounting frauds afterwards, it is necessary to perform studies on accounting practice and related systems on the dimension of advance control on accounting fraud. Next required is the studies on financial audit practice and related systems on the dimension of ex post control. In this paper, study subject is the ex post control, but overall system was reviewed in financial audit practice. As the result, this paper suggests the following points; Firstly, our financial audit system is, for the most part, constituted as delegatory legal system in that professional and technical areas are involved. However, system itself was to complicatedly designed due to excessive delegatory legal system, fundamental systemic problem exists as sub regulations are difficult to be monitored in contrary to the intended enactment of major laws. Especially this paper pointed on the fact that the problem becomes more serious as Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants as the eligible interested party with possible pressure, has the right to adopt and revise the Auditing Standards that provides the direction of audit practice as the sub-regulation (this function is supervised by regulatory authority, however the supervision is found as nominal). As the responding measure, this paper suggests revision of delegatory legal system, direct control of Auditing standards by main regulatory authority (government entity) on financial auditing system, and enhanced legal structure premised thereon.