Auditors are failing to reach the “necessary high standards” required for their work reviewing company accounts, their regulator said in its latest broadside against the profession.

In its annual review of the state of the industry, published on November 5, the Financial Reporting Council said that while the quality of audits was “improving” overall, accounting firms are still falling short in their willingness to challenge company management over their assessments of the business’s finances, as well as on routine work auditing revenue.