The auditors approach to fraud has evolved over the past century. At the beginning of the 20^th century, auditors focused on detecting errors and fraud, rather than evaluating the overall fairness of financial statement presentation. That emphasis changed during the 1900s to focus on the fairness of the financial statements, with auditors emphasizing the limitations of audits in detecting intentional misstatements in the financials (fraud). Auditors would assert that audits were designed to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements were reported in accordance with GAAP, but that designing engagements that would discover intentional fraudulent acts was excessively costly. They argued that companies should develop strong internal controls to prevent and detect fraud, rather than relying on auditors to detect such activity. When a number of audits failed to discover fraud, the accounting profession turned its attention to the expectation gap: the difference between what auditors believed to be their responsibility and the publics perception of the auditors role. In an attempt to narrow this gap and better define the auditors responsibility in regards to fraud in the financial statements, audit standards were issued that specifically addressed the auditors responsibility for detecting fraud.

1. What responsibility do auditors currently have to detect fraud in a clients financial statements?
2. Companies may engage in illegal acts other than fraud. Do auditors have a responsibility to detect such acts during the performance of the audit? If so, please describe their responsibility. If not, do they have a responsibility to take any actions if they happen to discover illegal activities? Please explain.