Den enskilde revisorn har till uppgift att granska ett företags finansiella rapporter och kommunicera resultatet till företagets intressenter. För att kvalitetssäkra att den finansiella informationen visar på en rättvisande bild av det reviderade företaget krävs det att revisorn är ifrågasättande och uppmärksam i sitt arbete. Denna attityd benämns professionell skepticism och ska återspegla en revisors alla handlingar. Revisionsbranschen står inför många utmaningar där den traditionella rollen kommer att förändras. En bidragande orsak till det är den exponentiella tekniska utvecklingen där automatiska processer i allt större grad tar över och den mänskliga inblandningen minskar. Syftet med studien är att studera huruvida graden av professionell skepticism hos den enskilde revisorn påverkas i takt med den tekniska utvecklingen. För att framställa en teori gällande den aktuella forskningsfrågan har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med intervjuer varit utgångspunkten. Det skapar en möjlighet att studera den enskilde revisorn i sin naturliga omgivning och öka förståelsen för hur revisorn upplever den rådande situationen. Digitaliseringen har resulterat i att revisorerna numera kan analysera en större mängd data och uppnå en högre träffsäkerhet vilket bidrar till en högre kvalitet på revisionerna. Resultatet visar på attdigitaliseringen kräver en förändring av den enskilde revisorns professionella skepticism för att bibehålla en hög kvalitet. Digitaliseringen medför att det inte längre är tillräckligt att vara skeptisk i revisionen utan det krävs även att revisorn är ifrågasättande till de digitala hjälpmedlen. Det råder en stor ovisshet om revisorerna i framtiden kommer att bli programstyrda och inte utövar en tillräcklig professionell skepticism. För att förebygga detta krävs det att revisorerna besitter nödvändig kunskap för att förstå det bearbetade materialet och för att kunna vara skeptisk till det material som de automatiska processerna levererar. Resultatet visar därmed att kunskap är av stor betydelse för att den enskilde revisorn ska utöva en professionell skepticism. Revisioner kommer fortsatt att vara komplexa och revisionsprocessen går inte att automatisera fullt ut. En mänsklig inblandning och en professionell skepticism kommer därav alltid vara nödvändig och studiens resultat visar på att den enskilde revisorn kommer att behöva anpassa sättet att tänka skeptiskt i en digitaliserad värld. / The individual auditor has a responsibility to review a company's financial reports and communicate the results to the company's stakeholders. In order to assure that the financial information present a true and fair view of the audited company it requires that the auditor is questionable and observant. This attitude is called professional scepticism and should be reflected in all actions performed by the auditor. The auditing industry faces many challenges where the traditional role of the auditor will change. A contributing reason is the exponential technical development where automatic processes increasingly take over human involvement. The purpose of the study is to examine whether the degree of professional scepticism of the individual auditor is affected in line with technical progress. To formulate a theory regarding the current research question, a qualitative research method with interviews has been used. This creates an opportunity to study the individual auditor in his or her natural environment and creates an understanding of how he or she experiences the current situation. The technical development has resulted in auditors being able to analyze a bigger amount of data and therefore achieve a higher accuracy, which contributes to a higher quality in the audits. The result indicate that the technical development requires a change of the auditor´s professional skepticism in order to maintain a high quality. The auditor should not only be skeptical in audits but also have a questioning mind towards digital devices. The present auditors experience a big concern that the future auditors will not have a sufficient professional skepticism and only rely on the digital devices. To prevent this from happening the auditors need to understand the data presented by the digital devices in order to exercise a sufficient level of professional skepticism. Therefore, the result indicate that knowledge is of great importance for the individual auditor´s professional skepticism. Audits will continue to be complex and the audit process cannot be fully automated. A human involvement and a professional skepticism will therefore always be necessary and the result shows that the individual auditor will need to adapt the way of thinking skeptically in a digitalized world.

Bakgrund: Det råder inga tvivel om att revisorn har en explicit funktion till att stärka redovisningens trovärdighet. I det sociologiska perspektivet kan vi även förstå revisorns funktion som en producent av komfort medan vi i det ekonomiskt rationella perspektivet ser revision som ett medel för att minska informationsasymmetri. Covid-19 har orsakat omfattande utmaningar bland både företag och revisorer, vilket lyfter frågan om hur olika aspekter i revisionen har påverkats av att revidera företag med en uttalad riskfaktor. Riskfyllda företag i denna studie avser företag som har fått en utfärdad going concern-anmärkning. Sådana bedömningar har varit svåra för revisorn under covid-19, mot bakgrund av den ovisshet som präglat pandemin. Av den orsaken var det intressant att undersöka om revisionsprocessen har förändrats under covid-19 genom att analysera om det skett en förändring av revisionsarvodet och längden för revisionsprocessen. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att analysera förändringen av revisionsprocessen i samband med ökade risker i företag i en orolig samhällskontext. Metod: Studien är av kvantitativ karaktär då vi undersöker om det skett någon förändring av revisionsarvodet och längden på revisionsprocessen under covid-19. För att besvara syftet har relevanta variabler från årsredovisningar inhämtas för att göra tre olika statistiska undersökningar. Syftet var att undersöka frekvensen av skillnader och samband mellan variablerna. Slutsats: Resultatet visar att det skett en förändring av revisionsarvodet under covid-19. Resultatet påvisade även att det inte skett en förändring av revisionsprocessens längd under covid-19, även fast det förelåg en viss samvariation mellan revisionsarvode och längden på revisionsprocessen. Resultaten har visat tendenser till att kunna förklaras och förstås med hjälp av informationsasymmetri och skapande av komfort. / Background: There is no doubt that auditors have an explicit function to strengthen the credibility of a firms’ accounting and reporting. In the sociological perspective it can be understood that auditors function as a producer of comfort, meanwhile in the economical rational perspective, auditors are a function to reduce information asymmetry. Covid-19 has caused extensive challenges for firms and auditors, which enlightens the issue of auditing troubled firms. Troubled firms are in this study referenced to firms that have been assessed with a going-concern opinion. Going-concern opinions was difficult for the auditors to review during Covid-19, in the light of the uncertainties that bear the stamp of the pandemic. For this reason, it was interesting to study if the audit effort had changed during covid-19 by analyzing the possible changes in audit fees and audit reporting lag. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the changes of audit effort in association to increased risk in firms in context to a crisis. Method: The study identifies with a quantitative orientation as it studies the changes of audit fees and audit reporting lag during Covid-19. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, pertinent variables from the firms’ annual reports have been obtained to perform three statistical analyses. The purpose was to study the changes between two years and the correlation between the two variables. Conclusion: The results suggest an increase in audit fees during Covid-19. The results also indicate no change in the length of audit reporting lag during Covid-19, even though a covariance between audit fees and audit reporting lag was identified to a certain extent. The results have shown to be understood with support by information asymmetry and establishment of comfort.

我國公開發行公司「雙簽制度」之功能，在於透過副簽會計師額外複核主辦會計師查核工作，以進一步通盤考量審計案件所面臨之審計風險情況，俾使審計案件最終風險下降至可容許範圍之內。然而，目前「雙簽制度」似乎已淪為橡皮圖章，實際功能未能發揮。故本研究擬針對副簽會計師複核工作與審計風險之關聯性，進行認知上的調查與實際執行成果之實證，並探討「雙簽制度」之本質，以尋求問題癥結所在與改善方向。 　　本研究係以問卷方式蒐集原始資料。研究對象則為公開發行、上櫃及上市公司之副簽會計師，並由其自行隨機選取一家其簽證之公開發行、上櫃或上市公司為測試樣本。原始資料蒐集完成後，本研究採平均數比較及變異數分析之統計方法，來辨認副簽會計師認為影響其複核工作之主要因素是否為與審計風險有關因素。採用複迴歸、逐步迴歸及因素分析等統計方法，來驗證目前副簽會計師實際複核工作與審計風險有關因素之關聯性。 　　本研究發現，副簽會計師一般認為與審計風險有關因素係影響其複核程度之主要因素。然而，目前副簽會計師實際複核工作，並未充分考慮與審計風險有關因素之影響，故驗證目前「雙簽制度」功能不彰之現象。本研究另外從立法本意、目的、責任、資格、角色、範圍、程序、重點、選任方式、時機、文件要求等十一項目，探討「雙簽制度」之本質。並提出下列改善方向：一、會計師法律責任之落實；二、主管機關積極加強管制；三、同業評鑑同時配合；四、教育宣導訓示。

This thesis is focused on role of the external auditor and risks and ethical behavior during his working. During individual phases of audit auditor must pay attention to many parts to determine no misrepresentation information in financial statements. Too he checks up into questions of ethical behavioral, for example by the evaluation of contract´s risk.

Audit evidence enables the auditor to express an opinion on the financial statements. To address the risk that the auditor may express an inappropriate opinion, the nature, timing and extent of audit procedures must be responsive to the assessed risks of material misstatement. The auditor must aggregate the levels of assurance obtained from different combinations of tests of controls, substantive analytical procedures and tests of details to respond to the assessed risks. These evidence planning decisions are complex and require professional judgement. Research has found that the extent of audit procedures is not linked to the assessed risks and that auditors may not know to aggregate evidence from different types of audit procedures. Research also supports the use of a structured audit methodology that includes decision models, to guide the application of professional judgement. This leads to the overall objective of this study: the development of an integrated audit evidence planning model to quantify the extent of audit evidence. The study employs a grounded theory model building approach, interpreting the relevant concepts and principles from the literature review into the development of the model. The integrated audit evidence planning model quantitatively relates the extent of audit evidence in a logical and structured manner with the risk assessment and three distinct overall levels of assurance needed to support the audit opinion. It uses the cumulative nature of audit evidence and the compensatory inter-relationship between tests of controls, substantive analytical procedures and tests of details to quantitatively aggregate the extent and levels of assurance from the different combinations of procedures to obtain reasonable assurance at the required overall level of assurance. The model provides a framework for influencing and guiding the exercise of professional judgement and is a practical and effective tool to benefit the users thereof when conducting an audit. Thus, the study models the extent of audit evidence with reference to the aggregation of different types and combinations of evidence and the linkage between the risk assessment and the extent of evidence that provides a flexible framework for the application of professional judgement regarding the gathering of audit evidence. / Auditing / D. Com. (Auditing)

Audit evidence enables the auditor to express an opinion on the financial statements. To address the risk that the auditor may express an inappropriate opinion, the nature, timing and extent of audit procedures must be responsive to the assessed risks of material misstatement. The auditor must aggregate the levels of assurance obtained from different combinations of tests of controls, substantive analytical procedures and tests of details to respond to the assessed risks. These evidence planning decisions are complex and require professional judgement. Research has found that the extent of audit procedures is not linked to the assessed risks and that auditors may not know to aggregate evidence from different types of audit procedures. Research also supports the use of a structured audit methodology that includes decision models, to guide the application of professional judgement. This leads to the overall objective of this study: the development of an integrated audit evidence planning model to quantify the extent of audit evidence. The study employs a grounded theory model building approach, interpreting the relevant concepts and principles from the literature review into the development of the model. The integrated audit evidence planning model quantitatively relates the extent of audit evidence in a logical and structured manner with the risk assessment and three distinct overall levels of assurance needed to support the audit opinion. It uses the cumulative nature of audit evidence and the compensatory inter-relationship between tests of controls, substantive analytical procedures and tests of details to quantitatively aggregate the extent and levels of assurance from the different combinations of procedures to obtain reasonable assurance at the required overall level of assurance. The model provides a framework for influencing and guiding the exercise of professional judgement and is a practical and effective tool to benefit the users thereof when conducting an audit. Thus, the study models the extent of audit evidence with reference to the aggregation of different types and combinations of evidence and the linkage between the risk assessment and the extent of evidence that provides a flexible framework for the application of professional judgement regarding the gathering of audit evidence. / Auditing / D. Com. (Auditing)