The Groupon-Facebook dichotomy, in which one accounting firm was responsible for two dramatically different approaches to GAAP, demonstrates the need for actual people at accounting firms taking personal as well as corporate responsibility for the financial statements that they audit.

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Whether the board or audit committee understands and exercises oversight responsibility over financial reporting and internal control.

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Establish a board Risk Committee (separate from the Audit Committee) and assign it responsibility for enterprise risk (including IT risks).

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The Fiscal Responsibility Law needs complementing with further reforms, for example, one to give more power and independence to the audit tribunals that are supposed to check the books at all levels of government.

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