Auditors Pan Bid to Report Their Own Financials as Too Rigid

US accounting firms want more flexible rules for how they disclose details about their own finances, operations, and audit performance, calling proposals to expand mandatory reporting too rigid and costly.

Firms want to continue reporting details about major changes in their business and their financial results as part of routine audit inspections to ensure sensitive or competitive details remain confidential, according to comment letters submitted to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board over the past month.

Details about how firms manage and staff audits of corporate accounting should continue to be discussed in voluntary transparency reports, rather than a standardized ...