Why do we need to understand audit committees? The Cadbury Committee recommended that UK companies should adopt them in response to financial scandals that have stemmed from dubious financial reporting practices. In other countries, similar commissions have made similar recommendations and audit committees are now a common institution. However, many practitioners doubt whether an audit committee really does much to ensure the integrity of a firm's financial statements because, as outsiders, members don't know enough to dig deeply beneath the numbers. The Audit Committee: Performing Corporate Governance argues that such criticism overlooks the ceremonial function of these committees. The audit committee is an arena where members can form and strengthen shifting and fragmentary networks with each other and with the external auditors. Within these networks, both consensus and independence are demonstrated, generating comfort, which legitimises the company and maintains its access to external sources of capital.

为什么我们需要了解审计委员会？吉百利委员会（Cadbury Committee）建议，英国企业应采纳这些标准，以应对因可疑财务报告做法而引发的财务丑闻。在其他国家，类似的委员会也提出了类似的建议，审计委员会现在是一个共同的机构。然而，许多从业人员怀疑，审计委员会是否真的在确保公司财务报表的完整性方面做了很多工作，因为作为局外人，成员们不太了解这些数字的背后。《审计委员会：执行公司治理》认为，这种批评忽视了这些委员会的礼仪职能。审计委员会是一个舞台，成员可以形成和加强相互之间以及与外部审计师之间不断变化和零碎的网络。在这些网络中，共识和独立性都得到了体现，产生了舒适感，使公司合法化，并保持了获得外部资金来源的机会。