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Illustration: Carey Sookocheff
 The public's perception that auditors don't value integrity — a result of numerous accounting scandals in the US — is a bum rap, according to a recent survey of audit partners in the Montreal area.
The study by Université de Sherbrooke and Université du Québec à Montréal with support from the Quebec ordre examined the factors that drive audit partners to implement a long-term-relationship strategy with clients. It found that the client's integrity and hones-ty had a positive impact on the partners' willingness to pursue a longstanding relationship with clients.
"With WorldCom and Enron, the public thinks that auditors don't consider integrity and honesty to be important — that they will maintain a relationship with any client. But the research indicates that auditors in Quebec can't accept a long-term relationship with a client if they think the client lacks integrity," says Université de Sherbrooke accounting professor Abdelhaq Elbekkali, who first conducted the study as part of his PhD at Université du Québec à Montréal. "This finding is very important because it proves that morality and ethics are crucial to the accounting profession."
Other factors cited by the survey's 263 respondents as having an impact on the duration of the partner-client relationship or the willingness of partners to pursue a long-term relationship include: client size; client pressure on audit fees; and the auditor's knowledge of the client's business (both the internal environment and the sector in which the company operates).
On the other hand, the client's business risk, personal competency or acquisition of management accounting services had no impact on partners' decision to engage a long-term relationship. | 
