Wirecard already is shaping up to be to Germany what Enron was to the United States: An accounting oversight failure so epic in its scope and scale that its aftermath is likely to forever alter the country’s auditing and accounting profession as it exists today.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...