This research is motivated by interest in recent changes in the audit approaches of audit firms. The business risk audit approach has been adopted based on assertions about its benefits by administrators of large audit firms and academics linked with these firms and, more recently, has been legitimised by the issuance of international auditing standards that give recognition to this approach. Studies investigating the business risk audit approach have relied on the content of audit manuals of large audit firms and pointed to claimed benefits, such as providing consistency of worldwide audit practice, broadening auditors’ awareness of risks, increasing audit effectiveness and efficiency, and creating more value for audit clients. In investigating this recent change in audit approaches, this thesis is concerned with the application of the business risk audit approach within the non-Big-4 audit firms, with a focus on three countries: the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The research focuses on the motivation for adopting this approach for non-Big-4 audit firms in the three countries, and the advantages, disadvantages and aftermath of applying this method. These issues are addressed through research methods comprising semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey. These methods are deemed appropriate to provide consideration of the contextual factors affecting the non-Big-4 audit firms and audit practice in the three countries examined. The findings show that non-Big-4 audit firms in the three countries adopted the business risk audit; their motivation was primarily to follow the standards in each country and to follow the general trend in the industry. The advantages were consistent with previous research; there was direct benefit to audit effectiveness and risk management. One major disadvantage of applying this method was the cost burden to both the audit firm and their clients. Some of the interviewees claimed that this method is better suited to large firms and large audits. Overall evidence from this research shows that this method helped auditors better understand their clients and assess the risk associated with the audit process. Auditors from non-Big-4 firms expressed their interest that the business risk audit should remain in use with some modification to fit small and medium audits. This study also contributes to the literature on the internationalisation of audit practice and the audit practice of small- and medium-sized audit firms, which is lacking in existing research related to this group.

Syftet med denna studie är att förklara och förstå digitaliseringens påverkan på revisionen. Revisionsbranschen är idag inne i en betydande förändringsprocess där traditionella metoder ersätts med modernare revisionstekniker. Digitaliseringen sägs vara en stark drivkraft till denna förändring, vilket har en stor påverkan på yrket. Genom att kunderna blivit mer digitala, samt att nya digitala revisionsverktyg har utvecklats, skapas möjligheten för en ny typ av revision. Tidigare forskning tyder på att yrket är på väg att automatiseras, och i framtiden tror forskare att robotisering kommer vara aktuell, även inom revisionsbranschen. Med fokus på två olika frågeställningar; digitaliseringens påverkan på revisionsmetodiken och digitaliseringens påverkan på revisionskvaliteten, har en kvalitativt inriktad studie genomförts. Studien bygger på intervjuer med tolv olika revisorer och programutvecklare. Studien visar att digitaliseringen av revisionen har haft en stor påverkan på yrket. Framförallt har digitaliseringen påverkat möjligheten att hantera en större mängd data. Bland annat har revisionen gått från att tidigare arbetat med statistiska urval, till att idag fokusera mer på att analysera data. Genom nya dataanalysverktyg har det blivit möjligt för revisorerna att gå från stickprov till att granska hela populationen av data. Granskningen kan då bättre inriktas på områden som avviker, eller områden med större risk. Studien visar att förändringen har haft en positiv påverkan på revisionskvaliteten, bland annat därför att revisionsbevisen blivit mer relevanta och tillförlitliga, samt att risken för att revisorerna gör ett felaktigt uttalande minskat. Mer fokus läggs idag på att revisorerna ska förstå kundens verksamhet och de faktorer som kan påverka denna. Förändringen har gjort att revisorernas analytiska förmåga blivit allt viktigare för att klara av yrket. Utvecklingen har möjliggjort att revisorerna kan ge bättre rådgivning, vilket skapar nya möjligheter inom branschen. / The purpose of this study is to explain and understand the influence of digitalization on the audit. The auditing industry is today in a significant process of change, where traditional methods are replaced by more modern auditing techniques. Digitalization is said to be a strong driving force for this change, which has a great impact on the profession. Because customers have become more digital and that new digital audit tools have been developed, the possibility of a new type of audit is created. Previous studies show that the profession is about to be automated, and in the future, researchers believe that robotization will be relevant also in the auditing industry. Focusing on two different issues; the impact of digitization on the audit methodology, and the impact of digitization on audit quality, a qualitatively oriented study has been conducted. The study is based on interviews with twelve different auditors and program developers. The study shows that the digitization of the audit has had a major impact on the profession. In particular, digitization has affected the ability to handle a larger amount of data. Among other things, the audit has gone from having previously worked with a large number of samples to today instead focusing on analyzing data. Through new data analysis tools, it has become possible for the auditors to switch from sampling to reviewing the entire population of data. The audit can then focus on areas that deviate or areas with greater risk. The study shows that the change has had a positive impact on the audit quality, since the audit evidence has become both more relevant and reliable, and that the risk that the auditors make an incorrect statement has decreased. More focus is now being placed on the auditors being able to understand the customer's business and the things that can affect this. The change has meant that the auditors' analytical ability has become increasingly important in order to cope with the profession. The development has made it possible for the auditors to provide better advice, which creates new opportunities in the industry.