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Legal liability of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) is the “responsibility of the auditor (an independent person) to the client and third parties relying on the accountant's work. Accountants can be sued for fraud and negligence in performance of duties”.〔(【引用サイトリンク】accessdate=November 27, 2012 )〕 Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) opinions affect their clients and their judgments can further affect investors, stockholders, firm creditors, or even partners. Large public accounting firms perform thousands of audits annually. Ultimately they will find unmodified reports on financial statements that could appear to be misleading. If CPAs fail to modify the audit report on financial statements that are materially misstated, investors and firm creditors may experience substantial losses. As a result of litigation against public accounting firms, amounts in excess of $300 million have been awarded to these parties. Even with professional liability insurance to cover such losses, occasionally the total amounts granted to plaintiffs have surpassed the maximum amounts the insurance can or will cover. If investors sustain losses they will attempt to recover them as long as the price to bring suit is low and there is a chance for recovery. Any public accounting firm may find itself in litigation no matter how careful the CPAs were. CPAs are often required to make further payments for investors and creditors uninsured losses. The firm itself can make these payments, as can personnel who have worked on the engagement. == Sources of CPAs' liability == In the United States, CPAs have common law liability and statutory law liability. Common law liability arises from negligence, breach of contract, and fraud. Statutory law liability is the obligation that comes from a certain statute or a law, which is applied, to society. Recoveries from these liabilities vary by their source or “theory”. Some of these theories are: * Privity: CPAs and their clients enter into a contract with an agreement to perform certain services. Liability occurs when there is a breach of contract.〔Whittington and Pany 108〕 This applies to the CPA if they don’t perform what they stated in the engagement letter and the client suffers damages. * Negligence: Negligence may be viewed as “failure to exercise due professional care".〔Whittington and Pany 108〕 Both clients and third parties can sue CPAs for the tort of negligence, which is a wrongful act, injury, or damage for which a civil action can be brought. Negligence can be referred to as ordinary negligence and gross negligence. Ordinary negligence is defined as failure of duty in accordance with applicable standards, and gross negligence is the lack of concern for the likelihood that injuries will result. * Fraud: Fraud is defined to be a misrepresentation of a material fact by a person who is aware of his or her actions, with the intention of misleading the other party with the other party injured as a result. * Statutory liability: CPAs have statutory liability under both federal and state securities laws. Statutory liability provides cover for defense costs, fines and penalties charged against the firm. Under statutory law, an auditor can be held civilly or criminally liable. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Legal liability of certified public accountants」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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