Auditing at the Speed of Change: KPMG's Chief Audit Partner Talks about the Financial Crisis and Careers within the Firm

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Henry Keizer is the global head of audit for KPMG International and U.S. vice chair of audit for KPMG LLP. He also is a member of the AICPA board of directors. He spoke with JofA Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Joanne Fiore following the AICPA's board of directors meeting in August and in a follow-up e-mail interview. The following are excerpts from those conversations:

JofA: What were the top challenges you faced this past year and how did you meet them?

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Keizer: Most of the top challenges I've faced fall under the umbrella of the economic crisis. To begin, the truly amazing speed of the deterioration of the economy and major corporations was a challenge for everyone. With markets evolving quarter to quarter, this often led to reassessments of and modifications to valuation approaches based on the new facts and circumstances, or on guidance from FASB and the SEC.

Another significant challenge was determining reasonable …