auditor

A person appointed by a company to perform an audit. In the UK auditors are Chartered Accountants.

Auditors are required to certify that the accounts produced by their client companies have been prepared in accordance with normal accounting standards and represent a true and fair view of the company. If they don't feel able to certify as such, they may 'qualify' the accounts by saying that they weren't able to perform the checks they would have liked to. A qualified auditor's report is a serious matter for a quoted company, and will send alarms bells though the City.