In order to preserve auditor independence, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 restricts the types of nonaudit services that auditors can perform for their public-company audit clients. The list includes nine types of services that are prohibited because they are deemed to impair an auditor’s independence. Included in the list are the following:
• Financial information systems design and implementation
• Internal audit outsourcing
Describe how an auditor’s independence could be impaired if she performed IT design and implementation functions for her audit client. Likewise, how could an auditor’s involvement with internal audit outsourcing impair her independence with respect to auditing the same company?