The Metaphysics of Quality would show how things become enormously more coherent--fabulously more coherent--when you start with an assumption that Quality is the primary empirical reality of the world....
--Robert M. Persig

The concept of Quality, metaphysical or not, is one of the things that differentiates our species from others. The empirical reality of the world of professional services is that Quality is the primary differentiator of success and failure. Every successful professional services firm must interpret the concept of Quality, convey this interpretation to its partners and employees, and establish a mechanism that ensures that the concept is more than mere sloganeering.

This is Cotton & Company's concept:

• Quality does not equal perfection. If the goal were attaining perfection, no complex or important task would ever be completed.
• Quality, rather, deals with striving for perfection, while recognizing that services that are never delivered are of no value.
• Quality does not equal error-free performance by those involved in an engagement. Over-ardent striving to avoid mistakes can paralyze an engagement team and its members.
• Optimum Quality is best achieved through coordination and teamwork. Engagement team members-confident that any mistakes they make will be corrected by other team members-become empowered to achieve results of value to clients.

Cotton & Company remains focused on Quality within our firm and on efforts to improve the management of Quality within our profession. The firm has a rigorous Quality Management System, began participating in the peer review program in 1983 - 7 years before quality reviews became mandatory for CPA firms - and exceeds the Quality Control and Assurance requirements established in Government Auditing Standards. Firm partners serve on various Professional Ethics Committees in order to improve the Profession’s Quality and remain at the forefront of these Quality improvement efforts.