Auditor's Dictionary: Terms, Concepts, Processes, and Regulations

Citation

Vinten, G. (2005), "Auditor's Dictionary: Terms, Concepts, Processes, and Regulations", Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 562-563. https://doi.org/10.1108/02686900510598920

David makes the astute observation in his preface that a dictionary can be started but never finished. Well, this one makes a significant start and may be regarded as a landmark event in the history of auditing, in which internal auditing is accorded a role of equality. Unlike some dictionaries I have reviewed, which seem to be random concatenations, this dictionary is well contrived and executed. For eleven pages of proof, go back to the 2004 Managerial Auditing Journal 19(8), pp. 1014‐1024. Here David writes “Author's reflections on Auditor's Dictionary”. Not only does this contain valuable insights into the way that audit has evolved, but it also indicates the depth of thought and research that went into this dictionary. David works for Oxford University Press and no doubt some of the lexicographical skills residing there have rubbed off on him. There are 1,700 entries with cross‐referencing. These deal with key auditing terms, concepts, regulations, institutions, people and publications. Some may use dictionaries simply to look up terms the meaning of which they are uncertain. This dictionary may be put to that use, but it is also sheer pleasure to thumb through it haphazardly, savouring items of interest, some of which are as detailed as is possible within the scope of a dictionary. David has worked it up diligently into a product which is seemly, compelling and compact, as well as being comprehensive. Naturally there is scope for further development, but the cut‐off point reached is entirely satisfactory. Every audit library needs a copy, as do academic libraries. The dictionary is a sound learning device and the reader is guaranteed to come away with some extra insight.

David is multi‐talented and has composed an absorbing novel called Nine Months in Calcutta. I read this, and did not want to put it down, and identified readily with the characterisation. It is set in India and reflects David's interest in karate, in which he is a black belt. The contradictions in Indian society are revealed, and there are substrata of gently stated eroticism and of Christian religious fanaticism, not to mention religious fraud. The “hero” Clive does have some audit background, as well as being a barrister, but he is taking a year out before joining the family firm. Buy this as a present for all your friends!

(Novel publisher: Distinctly India Ltd, PO Box 361, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX28 5WZ, ISBN 0 9548700 0 X, 2004, pp. 217, £15).