Financial Reporting Conversations

Wayne Basford
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Financial reporting isn’t just about compliance. It’s about clarity, accountability, and getting it right. Financial Reporting Conversations, presented by Basford Consulting, helps accountants, auditors, directors, and legal professionals navigate the complexities of IFRS, auditing, and climate standards with confidence. Each episode uncovers the unknown unknowns the hidden clauses, definitions, and disclosure nuances that most people overlook and explains how to apply them in real-world reporting environments. Hosted by Wayne and Judith, the podcast translates technical standards into practical insights that help you avoid “Blind Freddy” mistakes, strengthen governance, and improve reporting quality. If you’re ready to go beyond compliance and see what the standards really require, subscribe to Financial Reporting Conversations where we make the unknowns in financial reporting known.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    Why Audit Failures Often Begin With Silence

    When companies collapse shortly after receiving a clean audit opinion, the same question always follows: where were the auditors? But audit failure rarely begins at the moment the opinion is signed. In this episode of Financial Reporting Conversations, Wayne Basford and Judith Leung unpack how audit failures quietly develop through a cascade of decisions made throughout the audit process from client acceptance and understanding the business to risk assessment, audit procedures, and failures in professional skepticism. 🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn: Why audit failures often begin long before sign-offHow poor client acceptance decisions affect audit qualityWhy understanding the business drives risk assessmentHow “filing exercises” replace genuine auditingWhy contradictory audit evidence is often ignoredHow audit failure becomes a cascade of decisionsFinancial Reporting Conversations is brought to you by Basford Consulting helping professionals go beyond compliance and get financial reporting right. For technical insights, training, and resources that make the unknowns in financial reporting known, visit basfordconsulting.com 🔗 Connect with us: LinkedIn: Wayne Basford & Judith Leung YouTube: @BasfordConsulting Website: basfordconsulting.com

    20 min

  2. 8 MAY

    Why Audits Go Wrong: Commercial Pressure and Audit Quality

    When companies collapse shortly after receiving a clean audit opinion, attention often turns to technical failures. But what if the deeper issue is commercial pressure inside the audit process itself? In this episode of the Why Audits Go Wrong series, we explore how commercial pressure, fee dependence, and client retention incentives can quietly erode audit quality. Wayne Basford and Judith Leung unpack the tension between professional skepticism and commercial realities, and explain how audit firms can drift from investigative auditing into “filing exercise” behaviour. 🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:  Why commercial pressure can undermine audit quality  How fee dependence affects auditor judgment  Why low audit fees create dangerous audit behaviours  How firm culture shapes professional skepticism  Why regulators repeatedly identify commercial pressure in audit failuresFinancial Reporting Conversations is brought to you by Basford Consulting helping professionals go beyond compliance and get financial reporting right. For technical insights, training, and resources that make the unknowns in financial reporting known, visit basfordconsulting.com 🔗 Connect with us: LinkedIn: Wayne Basford & Judith Leung YouTube: @BasfordConsulting Website: basfordconsulting.com

    22 min

  3. 24 APR

    Why Audits Go Wrong: Are Audit Failures Caused by Resource Constraints?

    When audit failures occur, the focus almost always turns to the audit file — missed procedures, weak evidence, or poor judgment. But what if audit failures are actually driven by something more fundamental? In this episode, we examine whether audit failures are caused by resource constraints within the engagement team. From insufficient technical expertise and lack of industry knowledge to unrealistic time budgets and staffing pressures, we unpack how these resource constraints can undermine audit quality before the audit even begins.  We also explore how audit failures often reflect deeper issues in firm-level quality management, leadership decisions, and commercial pressures. If you think audit failures are simply technical breakdowns, this episode will challenge that assumption. Financial Reporting Conversations is brought to you by Basford Consulting helping professionals go beyond compliance and get financial reporting right. For technical insights, training, and resources that make the unknowns in financial reporting known, visit basfordconsulting.com 🔗 Connect with us: LinkedIn: Wayne Basford & Judith Leung YouTube: @BasfordConsulting Website: basfordconsulting.com

    18 min

  4. 16 APR

    Why Audits Go Wrong: The 7-Step Audit Failure Timeline

    When a company collapses shortly after a clean audit opinion, the same question always comes up: where were the auditors? But audit failure rarely starts in the audit file. In this episode of Financial Reporting Conversations, part of the Why Audits Go Wrong series, we walk through the 7-step audit failure timeline, showing how audit failure develops from weak governance, management pressure, and flawed financial reporting long before the audit begins. We unpack how audit risk builds inside the entity, how it flows into the audit process, and why critical risks are often missed. If you think audit failure is just about audit procedures, this episode will challenge that assumption and show how audit failure really unfolds. Financial Reporting Conversations is brought to you by Basford Consulting helping professionals go beyond compliance and get financial reporting right. For technical insights, training, and resources that make the unknowns in financial reporting known, visit basfordconsulting.com 🔗 Connect with us: LinkedIn: Wayne Basford & Judith Leung YouTube: @BasfordConsulting Website: basfordconsulting.com

    14 min

  5. 10 APR

    IFRS 3 Common Errors: Getting the Acquirer Wrong

    Identifying the acquirer under IFRS 3 sounds simple until reverse acquisition scenarios prove otherwise. One of the most common errors in IFRS 3 is getting the acquirer wrong, and when that happens, the entire set of financial statements can be materially misstated. In this episode, we unpack how reverse acquisition issues arise, why legal form often misleads, and how to correctly identify the acquirer under IFRS 3. We walk through real-world indicators of control, common “Blind Freddy” mistakes, and the consequences of applying reverse acquisition accounting incorrectly. If you think the entity issuing shares is always the acquirer, this episode will challenge that assumption. Financial Reporting Conversations is brought to you by Basford Consulting helping professionals go beyond compliance and get financial reporting right. For technical insights, training, and resources that make the unknowns in financial reporting known, visit basfordconsulting.com 🔗 Connect with us: LinkedIn: Wayne Basford & Judith Leung YouTube: @BasfordConsulting Website: basfordconsulting.com

    12 min

  6. 2 APR

    Why Audits Go Wrong: An Overview

    When a company collapses after a clean audit opinion, the immediate question is always the same: where were the auditors? But audit failure rarely starts in the audit file. In this episode, we unpack why audit failure is often the result of deeper issues from poor client acceptance decisions to weak systems of quality management and commercial pressures inside audit firms. We explore how audit failure develops as a cascade, driven by human judgment, cognitive bias, and a lack of professional skepticism from the very beginning. What you’ll learn:  Why audit failure rarely starts with audit procedures How poor client acceptance decisions create downstream risk What the “cascade of audit failure” looks like in practice How cognitive bias distorts audit judgment and evidence Why commercial pressure undermines professional skepticism Where audit quality really breaks down — and when it should have been identifiedIf you think audit failure is just a technical mistake, this episode will challenge that assumption and show where things really start to go wrong. Financial Reporting Conversations is brought to you by Basford Consulting helping professionals go beyond compliance and get financial reporting right. For technical insights, training, and resources that make the unknowns in financial reporting known, visit basfordconsulting.com 🔗 Connect with us: LinkedIn: Wayne Basford & Judith Leung YouTube: @BasfordConsulting Website: basfordconsulting.com

    23 min

  7. 26 MAR

    From Exploration to Development: Where It All Changes

    The most dangerous phase in mining isn’t exploration, it’s development. This is where projects become capital intensive, assumptions get tested, and going concern risks start to emerge. In this episode, we unpack the financial reporting challenges that arise as mining entities transition out of IFRS 6 into IAS 36, and why this shift often exposes deeper issues. We explore how going concern becomes a critical judgment area, especially when funding, timelines, and engineering realities don’t align. From revenue uncertainty under IFRS 15 to embedded leases, inventory valuation, and complex funding structures, this episode highlights where things start to go wrong and when entities should have known. 🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn:  Why the development phase is the highest-risk stage for financial reporting  How going concern risks build before projects fail  When to exit IFRS 6 and trigger IAS 36 impairment Why revenue and funding structures introduce volatility and judgmentFinancial Reporting Conversations is brought to you by Basford Consulting helping professionals go beyond compliance and get financial reporting right. For technical insights, training, and resources that make the unknowns in financial reporting known, visit basfordconsulting.com 🔗 Connect with us: LinkedIn: Wayne Basford & Judith Leung YouTube: @BasfordConsulting Website: basfordconsulting.com

    34 min

  8. 19 MAR

    Auditing Fraud Risk in China and Emerging Markets

    Auditing fraud risk in China is not just a technical challenge it can mean auditing businesses that don’t exist. In this episode, Wayne Basford and Judith Leung explore how audit fraud risk in China and emerging markets operates at a fundamentally different level. Drawing on real-world cases and lessons from the China Hustle, they explain why standard audit procedures can fail when transactions, customers, and even bank evidence are deliberately fabricated. The discussion highlights why audit fraud risk in China requires a different mindset one grounded in deep scepticism, local insight, and practical verification. 🎧 In this episode, you’ll learn: Why audit fraud risk in China can involve businesses that don’t existWhy traditional audit evidence like confirmations can be unreliableHow fake customers, invoices, and cash flows are constructedWhy site visits and tax records are critical audit evidenceWhat auditors should do differently before accepting high-risk engagementsFinancial Reporting Conversations is brought to you by Basford Consulting helping professionals go beyond compliance and get financial reporting right. For technical insights, training, and resources that make the unknowns in financial reporting known, visit basfordconsulting.com 🔗 Connect with us: LinkedIn: Wayne Basford & Judith Leung YouTube: @BasfordConsulting Website: basfordconsulting.com

    25 min
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About

Financial reporting isn’t just about compliance. It’s about clarity, accountability, and getting it right. Financial Reporting Conversations, presented by Basford Consulting, helps accountants, auditors, directors, and legal professionals navigate the complexities of IFRS, auditing, and climate standards with confidence. Each episode uncovers the unknown unknowns the hidden clauses, definitions, and disclosure nuances that most people overlook and explains how to apply them in real-world reporting environments. Hosted by Wayne and Judith, the podcast translates technical standards into practical insights that help you avoid “Blind Freddy” mistakes, strengthen governance, and improve reporting quality. If you’re ready to go beyond compliance and see what the standards really require, subscribe to Financial Reporting Conversations where we make the unknowns in financial reporting known.

Information

  • Creator
    Wayne Basford
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Financial Reporting Conversations
  • Show Website
    Financial Reporting Conversations
  • Provider