Accountant profession has when looking at the history constantly changed. It has often been scandals or corporate failures that have changed the profession. For example, the Kreugercrash was a major factor behind that the improved regulatory system were discussed and introduced. Even smaller events as the introduction of a voluntary audit has an effect on the profession. However, it is not only the profession itself that is changing. The profession can also be changed by factors they do not control. It could be problemetic to define what a profession is and consists of. This study has addressed concerns about whether the audit occupation can be considered to be perceived as a profession or not. It is also difficult to determine if an occupation is or not is a profession. Thats because there is a vary of variables that a profession contains of. Furthermore a profession is constantly moving on a scale where one strengthens or weakens its profession.
The studys task was thus to describe how the discussion of voluntary audit was performed by the industry and what effects the voluntary audit may have on the accounting occupation as a profession. To analyze the debate on the micro level, the study used a critical discourse analysis. The study was by this method able to explore how the EU as a rule making institute at the macro level, influenced the discussion in the auditor publication Balans at the micro level. The study shows that the effects of the introduction of the voluntary audit may be linked to a desire to mimic their surroundings. The law of voluntary audit for small companies has in turn led to increased competition, which has made that auditors in higher extent works with counseling. The effect of this indicates that the audit occupation as a profession might weaken and the occupation may in the future become less important.