Audit Committee

Large companies are overseen by what's called a board of directors. This is a group of people who have ultimate authority over what happens at the company. A company's CEO will run the organization, but he or she ultimately answers to the board, which can fire the chief executive and hire a new one if they deem it necessary.
Within the board, there might be several sub-committees. One of the most common of these is the audit committee, which has oversight over the routine audits conducted for the company's financial results.
These audits are supposed to be run by outside accountants, independent of the firm's management (remember, the firm's management created the financial statements that are getting audited in the first place).
The audit committee, usually made up of at least three board members (but often more, depending on the overall size of the company), will communicate with the auditors, helping to keep them clear of management influence and helping them maintain their independence. This allows the board to get a clearer picture of the financials and provide a check against what management is reporting. This may seem paranoid, but its considered routine and part of normal corporate governance.