For thousands of years, those who controlled and monitored society's finances-accountants-were often the most powerful, respected, and influential members of the community. From the collectors at communal granaries in the ancient Middle East to the scribes who monitored Queen Victoria's Exchequer, the accountant's role has been to preserve the integrity of financial systems.In the United States, twentieth-century accountants played a vital role in shaping the transparency of U.S. capital markets, counseling the Allies on financial matters in both world wars, advising Congress on the creation of the federal income tax, and inventing the concept of the gross national product.Yet by 2003, the reputation of the public accountant was in tatters. How did the accounting profession in America squander its legacy of public service? What happened to the accountants that presidents, senators, and captains of industry turned to for advice? Why did auditors stop looking for fraud? How did this once revered profession find itself in this unlikely and humiliating state?

几千年来，那些控制和监督社会财务的会计人员往往是社会上最有权势、最受尊重、最有影响力的成员。从古代中东公共粮仓的收集者到监管维多利亚女王国库的抄写员，会计的作用一直是维护金融体系的完整性。在美国，二十世纪的会计在塑造美国资本市场的透明度方面发挥了至关重要的作用，在两次世界大战中就财政问题向盟国提供咨询，就联邦所得税的制定向国会提供咨询，并发明了国民生产总值的概念，然而到了2003年，公共会计师的声誉一落千丈。美国会计界是如何挥霍其公共服务的遗产的？总统、参议员和工业领袖们求助于咨询的会计师们怎么了？为什么审计人员不再寻找欺诈行为？这个曾经备受尊崇的职业，是如何陷入这种不太可能的屈辱状态的？