Sure, it’s easy to blame rising audit fees on Sarbanes-Oxley. But could there be more sinister forces in play? Witness this recent discussion between a senior partner and an audit client:
Audit partner: “I’m sorry sir, but we’re going to have to raise your audit fees!”
Client: “You don’t say? What is the cause of this action?”
Audit partner: “Well, sir. The firm needs more money to pay for its film festival.”
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Well it’s happening. Granted, audit firms can charge whatever they want for audits. Clients are welcome to decline to participate (to an extent, anyway). And audit firms can spend their money however they choose.
But I suspect you didn’t think they’d choose to fund a “film festival” for auditors. And no, they’re not just watching movies. The auditors are making their own movies.
Deloitte even has a special place on YouTube for the best movies, with the following description:
The first-ever Deloitte Film Festival invited all people of the Deloitte U.S. Firms to make short videos that answered the question “What’s your Deloitte?”. Teams comprised of one to seven people submitted films about their lives and experiences at the organization. Nearly 400 submissions were received and more than 2000 participated in the filmmaking process.
The videos were posted on an internal “You-Tube” like site and then rated by the filmmakers’ peers and colleagues. From there, a diverse panel of judges chose the finalists and Deloitte’s employees picked the winners. The top videos, seen here, will be integrated into the organizations recruiting efforts.
Precisely what does that have to do with auditing? Well…. nothing.
But audit firms are doing crazy things to try to attract and retain employees. CFO Magazine reports that Deloitte & Touche recently had a “Deloitte Film Festival” in which employees created over 400 short films on the assigned theme, “What is Your Deloitte?”
Please tell me I’m not the only one that thinks this is an utter waste of time and money. Professional development? No! Making amateur films! Figuring out a way to make audits actually mean something? No! Making amateur films! Educating auditors about fraud so they are more likely to detect it? No! Making amateur films!
I’m sure someone at Deloitte thought this was a good idea. I wonder if the firm’s clients will agree. I hope they had a group hug at the end of the festival.
