United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2003-09-30 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:GAO-03-1158 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-1158 P0b002ee18038fe95 f:d031158 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-1158 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-1158 GAO-03-1158 Auditing standards Auditors Competition Corporate audits Corporate mergers Financial statement audits Other Written Product A08620 The largest accounting firms, known as the "Big 4," currently audit over 78 percent of U.S. public companies and 99 percent of public company annual sales. To address concerns raised by this concentration and as mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, on July 30, 2003, GAO issued a report entitled Public Accounting Firms: Mandated Study on Consolidation and Competition, GAO-03-864. As part of that study, GAO surveyed a random sample of 250 public companies from the Fortune 1000 list; preliminary findings were included in the July report. This supplemental report details more comprehensively the 159 responses we received through August 11, 2003, focusing on (1) the relationship of their company with their auditor of record in terms of satisfaction, tenure relationship, and services provided; (2) the effects of consolidation on audit fees, quality, and independence; and (3) the potential implications of consolidation for competition and auditor choice. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-1158/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-1158.htm GAO-03-1158 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-03-1158 Other Written Product GAO-03-1158; Accounting Firm Consolidation: Selected Large Public Company Views on Audit Fees, Quality, Independence, and Choice; Auditing standards Auditors Competition Corporate audits Corporate mergers Financial statement audits Public Law 107-204