Open Source Auditing

from the the-transparent-corporation dept

Here's an interesting proposal for a way to stop all the various accounting scandals. Instead of just making CEOs really (really, now) swear by their numbers, open up the raw data to the public. It's popular now for top executives at major companies to have an "executive dashboard" on their computers that lets them get up-to-the-minute data on sales, inventory, and all sorts of other information. The suggestion is that companies open this data up to the people who actually own the company: the shareholders. This way there's no more issue of shady accountants scrubbing the information clean. Everyone gets access to the raw data in real time. No more waiting for the latest quarterly report, just open up your favorite company's dashboard, and see how many sales they booked today. Many investors love the idea. Companies, of course, hate it. The writer points out that the government (even in its publicity hogging attempts to show its "tough" on white collar fraud) will never mandate this - but competitive pressure might push companies to move in this direction.

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