The research comprises a case study focussed on the wording of 34 audit reports of the British South Africa Company (BSAC), which Cecil Rhodes established by Royal Charter to colonise Rhodesia from 1889 to 1924. The accounts were audited by Cooper Brothers & Co., now PricewaterhouseCoopers. The research analyses three audit-report characteristics that influenced audit-report wording. Of the 34 audit reports, eight contained qualified (i.e., unfavourable) audit opinions. Based on verbatim annual general meeting minutes and private correspondence, we provide evidence of the effect of the audit qualifications. The research further analyses the evolution of the audit-report wording over the period. Initially, the auditors customised the audit-report wording. Each year, they made micro changes to improve the precision of the wording. Then, in 1911, well in advance of any audit-report regulations, the wording became standardised and remained so until the end of the study period. The paper adds insights into why auditors standardised audit-report wording. We conjecture that years of struggling with customised wording prompted the auditors to adopt standardised wording. We do not know whether this decision applied just to the BSAC audit reports, or whether 1911 heralded standardised audit-report wording for all Cooper Brothers & Co. audit reports.

中文翻译：

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十九世纪审计报告：从自由格式到标准化措辞的演变


该研究包括一个案例研究，重点关注英属南非公司 (BSAC) 的 34 份审计报告的措辞，该公司是塞西尔·罗兹 (Cecil Rhodes) 根据皇家宪章于 1889 年至 1924 年期间建立的，旨在殖民罗得西亚。这些账目由库珀兄弟公司 (Cooper Brothers & Co.) 审计。现在是普华永道。该研究分析了影响审计报告措辞的三个审计报告特征。在 34 份审计报告中，有 8 份包含保留（即不利）审计意见。根据年度股东大会逐字记录和私人信件，我们提供审计资格效力的证据。该研究进一步分析了审计报告措辞在此期间的演变。最初，审计师定制了审计报告的措辞。每年，他们都会进行细微的修改，以提高措辞的准确性。然后，在 1911 年，早在任何审计报告法规出台之前，措辞就变得标准化，并一直保持到研究期结束。该论文深入探讨了审计师为何标准化审计报告措辞。我们推测，多年来与定制措辞的斗争促使审计师采用标准化措辞。我们不知道这一决定是否仅适用于 BSAC 审计报告，或者 1911 年是否预示着所有库珀兄弟公司审计报告都将采用标准化审计报告措辞。