Revisionsplikten har under en längre tid varit ett väldiskuterat ämne i Europa där störst fokus har legat på huruvida revisionen ska vara frivillig eller inte. Idag har det gått mer än två år sedan lagen om avskaffad revisionsplikt trädde i kraft vilket gör det möjligt att studera avskaffandets effekter ur olika perspektiv som till exempel de små aktiebolagens perspektiv, skatteverkets perspektiv och kreditgivarnas perspektiv. Fokus för denna studie är revisorernas perspektiv och hur de har påverkats av lagändringen. Syftet med vårt examensarbete är att beskriva och analysera revisorers förväntningar kring avskaffandet av revisionsplikten för att sedan kunna jämföra hur dessa förväntningar stämmer överens med utfallet efter att lagen trätt i kraft. Syftet med uppsatsen är även att beskriva och analysera vilka faktorer som påverkar effekterna av utfallet. För att nå fram till ett resultat har en abduktiv ansats med en kvalitativ metod använts för denna studie. Studien utgår ifrån befintlig teori och vetenskapliga studier. Teorier som har använts är agentteorin, professionsteorin, komfortteorin, legitimitetsteorin och den institutionella teorin samt förväntningsgapet. Det empiriska materialet grundar sig på åtta intervjuer med revisorer från olika revisionsbyråer i Kristianstadsområdet med omnejd. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats utifrån en jämförelse mellan förväntningar och utfall av revisionspliktens avskaffande. Analysen påvisade att påverkansfaktorn byråstorlek hade den största påverkan på förväntningarna i förhållande till utfallet samt att endast en del av förväntningar stämde överens med det faktiska utfallet. / Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze auditors' expectations about the elimination of the audit requirement and then be able to compare how these expectations are consistent with the results after the law came into force. The purpose of this paper is also to describe and analyze the factors that influence the effects of outcome Methodology In order to reach a result, an abductive approach with a qualitative method have been used in this study Theoretical framework The study is based on existing theories and scientific studies. Theories that have been used are the agency theory, professional theory, comfort theory, legitimacy theory and institutional theory together with the expectation gap Empirical analysis The empirical material is based on eight interviews with auditors from various auditing firms in the Kristianstad area and vicinity. The empirical data were analyzed by means of a comparison between expectations and outcomes of the audit elimination Conclusion The analysis showed that the influencing factor firm size had the greatest impact on the expectations in relation to the outcome and that only some of the expectations were in line with the actual outcome

Information system (IS) support of human problem solving during the complex task of auditing within a computer environment was investigated. 74 computer audit specialist professionals from nine firms participated in the field experiment. Task accomplishment behavior was recorded via a computerized activity-logging technique. Theoretical constructs of interest included: 1) IS problem-solving support, 2) task domain knowledge, and 3) decision-making behavior. It was theorized that task domain knowledge influences the type of IS most functionally appropriate for usage by that individual. IS task presentation served as the treatment variable. Task domain knowledge was investigated as a moderating factor of task accomplishment Task accomplishment, the dependent variable, was defined as search control strategy and quality of task performance. A subject's task domain knowledge was assessed over seven theoretical domains. Subjects were assigned to higher or lower task domain knowledge groups based on performance on professional competency examination questions. Research hypothesis one investigated the effects of task domain knowledge on task accomplishment behavior. Several task domain knowledge bases were found to influence both search control strategy and task performance. Task presentation ordering effects, hypothesis two, were not found to significantly influence search control strategy or task performance. The third hypothesis investigated interaction effects of a subject's task domain knowledge and task presentation ordering treatments on task accomplishment behavior. An interaction effect was found to influence the subject's search control strategy. The computer-specific knowledge base and task presentation ordering treatments were found to interact as joint moderators of search control strategy. Task performance was not found to be significantly influenced by interaction effects. Users' task accomplishment was modeled based upon problem-solving behavior. A subject's level of task domain knowledge was found to serve as a moderating factor of IS usage. Human information-processing strategies, IS usage, and task domain knowledge were integrated into a comprehensive IS user task model. This integrated model provides a robust characterization scheme for IS problem-solving support in a complex task environment.

Technology is advancing at a rapid pace impacting many industries including accounting and auditing industries. Technological development has enabled implementation of automated accounting systems that make it possible for firms to shift from traditional accounting to automated accounting. This change in record keeping has a direct influence on audit firms. As record keepings changes, it puts pressure on audit firms to implement systems that cater for the change in their clients’ systems. This promotes automated auditing where the use of tools such as data analytics and AI are of importance. There is prior research related to accounting system, automated accounting, automated auditing and the impact of technological development on various industries and professions. However, the impacts of automation on the audit process remain unexplored, especially in Swedish audit firms. As there is only a little literature on the subject, in spite of considerable amount of discussion inside and outside academia about how automation impacts the audit process, the subject is seen as current and interesting. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to discover how automation impacts the audit process in Swedish audit firms. The research question for this thesis is “How does automation impact the audit process?” The audit process is seen as being closely related to audit quality, audit efficiency and competence and skills of auditors. Thus, as sub-purpose, this research also aims to find out how the mentioned aspects are impacted by automation. In this thesis a qualitative approach was taken. Semi-structured interviews were performed with various auditors in order to explore the subject in question. Empirical findings of this thesis suggest that the execution stage of an audit process will be impacted the most by automation. The shift can already be seen but in the future the emphasis will be even more on testing internal controls than substantive procedures. It was also discovered that audit quality and audit efficiency are expected to increase because automation is believed to decrease the amount of human errors and speed up the audit process as well as help auditors draw better conclusions. Competence and skills of auditors were found to be as important in the future as they are nowadays, but the findings suggest that a higher level of IT knowledge and skills are desired in the future as more technology will be integrated in auditing. This research offers theoretical, practical and social contributions. This research extends the existing knowledge on the subject in question. It also helps accounting and auditing firms to understand the impact of automation in the field as well as gives them an opportunity to prepare in advance for changes that may occur. Additionally, the findings of this research can give educational institutions an indication in which way the curriculum in universities should be adjusted. On a national level the findings can be used to encourage continuous learning.  Furthermore, this research can be used as a point of departure for future research.

In the period leading up to the early 2000s there were a series of large company failures attributed at least in part to audit failures. Consequently, the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) was promulgated in July 2002 to restore confidence in public company financial reporting and the work of auditors. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) was established by SOX and appointed as the regulator of the accounting firms that audit the financial statements of public companies. The PCAOB is required to routinely inspect the operations of these accounting firms in an effort to satisfy its mandate to bring about an improvement in the audit quality of these companies. These inspections extend to the non-US auditors of companies that are cross-listed in the US. Despite various mainly US studies on inspections, there is limited evidence that the inspections have resulted in improved audit quality. ... I examine companies whose securities are cross-listed in the US in the periods before and after inspection in order to provide evidence on the benefits of inspections. I find some evidence that inspections improve the audit quality of companies that are cross-listed in the US. This suggests the audit quality of companies from countries that do not permit inspections may be positively affected should inspections be permitted. / by Errol G.G. Stewart. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

This study examines whether the probability of a firm receiving a going concern modified report or a standard audit report with note disclosure of a going concern uncertainty has increased after the issuance of SAS No. 59. This study also examines whether the probability of a firm having no reference to a going concern uncertainty in its audit report or the financial statement notes has decreased after the issuance of SAS No. 59. The findings provide support for the hypotheses that a firm has a higher probability of receiving a standard audit report with note disclosure of a going concern ('J uncertainty and a lower probability of receiving no reference to a going concern uncertainty in the audit report or the financial statement notes after the issuance of SAS No. 59. However, this study finds no support for the hypothesis that a firm has a higher probability of receiving a going concern modified report after the issuance of SAS No. 59. The findings of this study suggest that the Auditing Standards Board, the government, and the accounting profession should consider the impact of SAS No. 59 on the presence of note disclosure when assessing the success or failure of SAS No. 59 in decreasing the so-called audit expectation gap.

by Ho Tai-wai, David [and] Woo Hou-kwong, Paul. / Bibliography: leaves 82-84 / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1984

by Chui Kit Yee, Gloria, Mak Oi Yi. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-78). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.iv / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Background --- p.1 / Scope of the study --- p.3 / Objectives of the study --- p.3 / Justification of the study --- p.4 / Chapter II. --- CPA FIRMS' EXISTING MARKETING PRACTICES --- p.5 / Service marketing vs. product marketing --- p.5 / Service characteristics vs. product characteristics --- p.5 / Characteristics of professional services --- p.5 / Consumer evaluation of CPA firms' services --- p.3 / Relationship marketing --- p.9 / The Importance of Relationship Marketing to Service Industry --- p.9 / Definition of relationship marketing --- p.10 / Strategies used by CPA firms --- p.11 / Promotional activities of CPA firms --- p.12 / Different practices between CPA firms in Hong Kong and other English-speaking countries --- p.12 / Promotional tools used for existing and potential clients --- p.14 / Chapter III. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.15 / Secondary Data Collection --- p.15 / Primary Data Collection --- p.15 / Exploratory research with CPA firms in Hong Kong --- p.15 / Preliminary Field Research --- p.16 / Descriptive Research --- p.17 / Questionnaire Design --- p.17 / Chapter IV. --- DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION --- p.19 / Data Analysis --- p.19 / General Characteristics --- p.19 / Characteristics of External Auditors --- p.20 / Consumer Decision Making --- p.20 / Deloitte louche Tohmatsu --- p.21 / Interpretation of Results --- p.22 / General Characteristics --- p.22 / Characteristics of External Auditors --- p.23 / Consumer Decision Making --- p.24 / Chapter V. --- MARKETING IMPLICATIONS FOR ALL CPA FIRMS IN GENERAL --- p.27 / Marketing Strategies for CPA firms in influencing the selection process of potential clients --- p.27 / Product --- p.29 / Price --- p.30 / Place/Presentation --- p.31 / Promotion --- p.32 / People --- p.33 / Processes --- p.33 / Strategies to sustain clients' satisfaction level --- p.34 / Customer focus --- p.36 / Process improvement --- p.38 / Total involvement --- p.38 / Chapter VI. --- MARKETING IMPLICATIONS FOR DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU --- p.40 / Data Collected from Market Survey --- p.40 / Marketing in Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu --- p.41 / Competition Analysis --- p.42 / Recommendations to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu --- p.44 / Marketing Orientation --- p.44 / Situation Analysis --- p.46 / Competition Analysis --- p.47 / Business Environment Analysis --- p.47 / Product Analysis --- p.48 / Marketing Analysis --- p.48 / Marketing Opportunity Analysis --- p.48 / Chapter VII. --- LIMITATIONS --- p.49 / Secondary Study --- p.49 / Sampling Method --- p.50 / Questionnaire Design --- p.51 / Chapter VIII. --- CONCLUSION --- p.52 / APPENDICES / IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW QUESTIONS --- p.53 / PRELIMINARY QUESTIONNAIRE --- p.55 / QUESTIONNAIRE --- p.57 / RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS - OVERALL SAMPLE --- p.60 / RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS - BIG SIX GROUP --- p.62 / RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS- NON-BIG SIX GROUP --- p.64 / RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS -DELOITTE GROUP --- p.66 / RESULTS FROM ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE AND CROSS-TABULATION… --- p.68 / DELOITTE'S COMMUNICATION CIRCLE --- p.74 / DELOITTE'S 10 CLIENT SERVICES STANDARD --- p.75 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.76

The changes in economy in addition to globalisation have impacted upon the audit profession. After the economic crisis in the 2000s, the audit profession was deemed to be a cause of the corporate collapse due to unethical behaviour of auditors. This issue also impacts upon auditing instruction worldwide, including Thailand where political and economic crises along with corruption issues have become significant and urgent problems in the Thai society. There has been a high scrutiny on capabilities, competence and ethics of auditors from the public and other stakeholders, whereas there is scant evidence to show whether Thai educators take action on enhancing holistic attributes of their auditing students, in particular, ethical sensitivity of the students. Thereby, Thailand needs to reform the quality of audit education in order to serve qualified graduate students to the business environment. This thesis developed a set of reflective case studies as an instructional intervention for auditing learning. It aims to enhance professional knowledge, skills and ethics of auditing students in Thailand. Four learning theories comprising Transformative Learning Theory (TLT), Experiential Learning Theory (ELT), Reflective Learning Theory (RLT) and Project-based Learning Theory (PLT) were applied as the theoretical framework. In addition, this thesis applied concepts of qualitative and action research together with the ADDIE instructional development as the practical framework for the development of an instructional intervention. There were five phases of the ADDIE model: Analyse, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate applied to organise the empirical work. Two empirical fieldworks were conducted within university settings in Thailand. The first fieldwork complied with the analysing phase of the ADDIE model exploring current practice and problems of audit instruction in Thailand in order to identify performance gap of the audit education. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 11 universities with 34 participants who were audit lecturers and students in five regions throughout the country. The results showed that in general, audit instructors in Thailand mostly applied traditional teaching methods. However, there were problems of audit instruction comprising inappropriate learning strategies of the students, lack of staff and learning resources, deficiencies of knowledge and skills of audit students and lack of ethical awareness of the students. Significantly, the participants required case studies in Thai context as a learning tool to enhance the knowledge, skills and ethics of Thai auditing students. These elements were determined as performance gap which was required to improve. In response to the results of the first empirical fieldwork, the thesis applied the design and development phases of the ADDIE model to develop a set of reflective case studies for auditing students. A framework for the development of case studies derived from other professional education such as law, medicine, nursing and engineering where such real-life case studies have been successfully used to enhance ethical sensitivity of students. Additionally, concepts of reflective writing and audit working paper were applied in the cases studies. Other instruments such as guidance for lecturers and students were also developed for Thai auditing students. All instructional resources were validated by experts. The final version was refined and approved before the implementation. The second empirical fieldwork complied with the implement and evaluate phases of the ADDIE model. An experiment conducted with 77 auditing students in Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand. In addition, there were 15 participants who voluntarily participated in the reflective writing activity and the focus group interview. The results revealed that before the cases’ implementation, students had negative views on auditing learning. However, during and after the implementation, students had reformed their way of learning, attitudes towards auditing learning and ethical sensitivity.

This study’s primary objectives are to establish the dimensions, strategies, and tactics used by auditors in the negotiation of sensitive disclosure issues with clients. These issues are typically addressed at the end of the audit and are the primary concern of the audit partner and senior manager. This study uses the tactics established in the negotiation research to test if auditors use the same groups of tactics, and whether these tactics are related by some underlying dimensions, and their relevant strategies. Multidimensional scaling found that there are four dimensions to the tactics that auditors use. During negotiations with their clients, auditors employ tactics representing the underlying dimensions which can be interpreted as “Concern for Self”, “Concern for Client”, “Concern for Others”, and “Concern for Accounting Principles”. Results of cluster analysis established four primary classifications to the 38 auditor tactics. These are “Facilitating”, “Contextual”, “Forcing/asserting”, and “Appeal to authority”. Within these four classifications, twelve sub-categories were observed. These findings reinforce the complexities inherent in the resolution of an audit conflict, and suggest that auditors group together certain tactics for use as called for in the circumstances with which they are dealing. This research contributes to theory within the fields of auditing and general negotiation because it has established that the two-dimensional model of concern that has formed the basis of much behavioural research is insufficient to describe an auditor’s responsibilities. There are four dimensions of concern. While some researchers have proposed a three-dimensional model of negotiation for auditors, the fourth dimension identified in this study is a contribution. This research expands current knowledge fundamental to the audit discipline by establishing the negotiation tactics used by auditors and their underlying multidimensionality, and thus has extended the knowledge of audit conflict management beyond that of strategy-level. Accordingly,this research is beneficial to practicing auditors and for the education of auditors.

Large accounting firms have been structuring their audit divisions along industry lines for some years. Industry specialisation is seen as a means of differentiation between otherwise similar accounting firms. At the individual level industry specialists are identified as being so designated within their firm. They spend a substantial amount of their time auditing clients in that industry. The purpose of this study is to determine what industry specialist auditors do that is different and similar when working on industry-based tasks, one of which they specialise in. Behavioural decision theory is used to investigate the differences and similarities in the decision-making processes of industry specialist and other auditors. It is known that industry specialists perform better on tasks set in their industry. The purpose of this study is to learn why. To that end, the pre-information search, information search and decision processing phases of the decision-making process are examined. It is expected that industry specialists are more efficient and effective at each stage of the decision-making process when completing a case set in the industry they specialise in. Two controlled experiments were conducted in the offices of each of the Big 4 international accounting firms. Participants included manufacturing and superannuation industry specialists from each firm. Each participant was invited to take part in both experiments, which were conducted consecutively via the internet. The first experiment comprised two cases, one set in each industry setting (manufacturing and superannuation). Participants completed both cases. The purpose of the first experiment was to conduct a within-subject examination unveiling similarities and differences between industry specialists and other auditors during the pre-information search, information search and decision processing phases of the decision-making process. Their performance on each case was also monitored and measured. Significant results were found for information search and performance. Moderate results were found for one proxy each of the pre-information search and the decision processing phases. The relationship between efficiency at each stage of the decision-making process and performance was also measured. A significant relationship was found for the pre-information search and decision processing phases. The second experiment comprised two strategic business risk tasks set in each industry setting (manufacturing and superannuation). Participants completed both sets of tasks. The purpose of the second experiment was to examine effectiveness during the pre-information search (listing key strategic business risks), information search (listing key inputs) and decision processing (listing key processes) phases of the decision-making process and their ability to identify and list key outputs (accounts and assertions) for an identified risk (technological change for the manufacturing industry task and solvency due to insufficient funding for the superannuation industry task) within each industry setting. The results were very significant overall. Industry specialist auditors were able list more key strategic business risks, inputs, processes and outputs when the task was set in the industry in which they specialise. The relationship between effectiveness at each stage of the decision-making process and performance was also measured. A significant relationship was found between effectiveness in listing key inputs and effectiveness in listing key outputs (accounts).