In all, more than 61 percent of respondents believe that the past year's accounting scandals have significantly damaged the profession's reputation.
Additionally, while 61 percent of respondents believe that recent legislation will encourage public companies to produce more accurate financial statements, when asked if malpractice or other concerns would cause accounting firms to adopt the Sarbanes-Oxley standards, even if the firm would not otherwise be covered, 60 percent of those surveyed said no.
"From this survey, it is clear that there are mixed opinions about the state of the accounting industry," said David D. Aughtry, shareholder of Chamberlain Hrdlicka.