The following statement on one objective of an audit appeared in Principles of Accounting by William A. Paton and Russell A. Stevenson, published by The Ann Arbor Press in 1916: A large number of enterprises feel obliged to have their records audited regularly to give authenticity to the statements issued to the stockholders. The annual report in such a case has a statement from the auditing accountants appended, declaring the condition of the company to be as represented. Too often such audits are only perfunctory and hence of no value.

Discuss the importance of this aspect of the audit function today.