Log on to the careers website of the US audit regulator and it seems you are not dealing with a shrinking violet - an impression UK accountants will soon be able to test.

"The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is aggressively seeking accountants . . . to perform on-site inspections of registered accounting firms," it says. "Professionals who join [us] will . . . become focal points of systemic, defining change in the public accounting profession."