ther, it should confirm the company’s assessment of the understanding and meeting
of the company’s needs, as well as the responsiveness and quality of the audit firm’s
oral and written reports or presentations referred to above.
(ix) Chemistry. The most subjective criterion involved in the assessment process is
determining how well the proposed engagement team fits with the international com-
pany’s culture and style. It must be recognized that over time members of both the
engagement team and company management will change and a fit for today may not
be a fit for tomorrow.
To properly assess this criterion requires that quality time be spent with the pro-
posed engagement team members during the assessment process. While part of this
time may be represented by formal meetings and discussion, often informal contracts
provide a very good basis for making the assessment. Traveling with engagement
team members to visit subsidiaries or significant company operations around the
world is frequently a good way to foster such informal contracts.
Engagement team members should demonstrate a healthy respect for the com-
pany’s culture and style. This aspect encompasses interpersonal relations, conversa-
tional language, punctuality, dress, social contacts, format for meetings, enthusiasm,
and energy level, and so on. Again, in the initial selection of auditors, the most use-
ful source of such information is from current and former clients. Particularly with
respect to this criterion, the evaluation should be specific to the proposed engagement
team members.
Many international companies have a large number of partners and managers from
the audit firm providing service on a worldwide basis. It is useful to have the man-
aging director and financial management at significant subsidiaries also assess the
chemistry of their local engagement team partners and managers. However, the key
focus should be on the parent company engagement team partners and managers be-
cause the involvement with them will be the most extensive and they will set the tone
for the worldwide engagement teams. In fact, the parent company engagement part-
ner should have considerable influence over the initial selection and any subsequent
changes in the partners serving the company on a worldwide basis. The parent com-
pany engagement partner has overall responsibility for the performance of the world-
wide team.
(x) Cost. The competitiveness of the marketplace for professional services provided
by audit firms is well known to all participants, worldwide. The fees paid to audit
firms by an international company will, first and foremost, reflect the expectations
discussed in the previous section of this chapter and will vary considerably from in-
ternational company to international company. Within that context, audit firms are
very competitive, both at the time of initial selection as well as on a continuing basis.
This latter point reflects the fact that, while audit firms realize it is costly, particularly
in terms of time, for international companies to change audit firms, such changes
have and will continue to take place if the value received by the international com-
panies is not commensurate with the fees being charged.
Whatever the level of the international company’s expectations with respect to its
auditors, the efficiency with which the services are delivered will be strongly influ-
enced by the coordination and cooperation between the company and the auditors.
Such coordination and cooperation are important not just with respect to the internal
auditing activity, but with respect to operating as well as financial and accounting
31.3 ASSESSING THE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE CANDIDATES 31 • 15