Certification of income statements

It has come to the attention of the Commission that wide variations have developed in certificates of independent accountants contained in registration statements filed under the Securities Act of 1933 with respect to representations concerning the verification of inventories of prior years in first audits. This development has been noted particularly in situations involving the offering of securities of closely held corporations which have failed to maintain and preserve accounting records and data necessary to permit verification of financial statements. In some cases a question arises whether the certifying accountant intended to limit his opinion as to the fairness of presentation of the income statements