This diploma thesis deals with the use of the auditor's expert in obtaining sufficient and appropriate audit evidence. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with the concept of audit and the auditor's expert's work in the context of International Standards on Auditing ISA. The third part of the thesis is about management's expert. The last chapter is devoted to a questionnaire survey carried out among audit firms and auditors working as self-employed (OSVČ).

Published Article / This article discusses the developments and factors that impact on the external audit function, and analyses the role that an effectively functioning audit committee can play in supporting the external auditor's independence and effectiveness. This is done through a literature review of external audit and audit committee developments, and is supported by empirical evidence obtained from assessing the annual reports and from questionnaires sent to the audit committee chairs of the Top 40 listed companies in South Africa. The main findings of the study are that audit committees at the largest listed companies in South Africa are taking responsibility for overseeing the external audit function, but that the disclosure thereof in annual reports was found to be lacking. These findings are of significance as they provide support for the recommendations of King III (effective from 1 March 2010) that all companies should form audit committees and that external audit should be given oversight responsibilities in this regard.

Digitization has changed the auditing profession in different ways. Audits can now be carried out digitally and audit firms have switched from the analogue to the digital way of working. This is because the audit process has been digitized and many work steps that have previously been time-consuming to carry out manually today can be carried out efficiently digitally. This study aims to investigate how digitalisation has changed the auditor's working methods and function. What will be examined is which working methods have changed, which skills it requires from the auditor and how the auditor's function is affected. The study is characterized by a qualitative research approach where six semi-structured interviews were conducted with three different audit firms. These interviews together with the study's theoretical frame of reference lay the foundation for the study's results. It has been established by previous research that working methods in the audit process have changed in step with digitalisation. Therefore, the authors have further researched this through data to confirm the previous research. The results show that the audit process has changed and facilitated the auditor's tasks. With the help of the digital tools and systems, the auditor can now carry out his work digitally and easily search for the financial items needed, as well as through cloud technology manage data and communicate with the client. These changes free up time for the auditor to create added value for the client through advisory services.

Published Article / This paper synthesises, as its primary aim, through an integrative literature review, a new perspective on two major implications of the proposed legalisation of internet casinos in South Africa, which is: the effect on the auditor's business risk as well as the effect on audit risk. As its secondary aim the paper argues that legalisation of internet casinos in South Africa is imminent and that relative to other business, heavy reliance will be placed on the external auditor to ensure the internet casinos' compliance with various laws. The relevance and application of an integrative literature review is motivated. International perspectives are applied to the South African context. The paper demonstrates the relationship between the concepts of the auditor's business risk and audit risk by establishing that the auditor's business risk flows from possible accountability that may stem from significant audit risk that is not addressed during the audit engagement. The paper argues that the operational context of an internet casino in South Africa will be relatively unique and that three interrelating factors will create significant audit risk. The three significant factors are shown to be going concern, regulatory and information technology impacts. Failure by the auditor to recognise and respond appropriately to this audit risk may lead to serious consequences for the practitioner which may include regulatory intervention, reputational based losses or litigation. The impact of the International Standards on Auditing in this context is explored throughout and it is concluded that adherence to these standards will sufficiently mitigate significant audit risk as well as the auditor's business risk.

Bakgrund: Ett obegränsat revisionsuppdrag förmodas ha en negativ inverkan på revisionskvaliteten. I syfte att stärka revisionskvaliteten infördes reglerna om revisorsrotation. Genom att begränsa uppdragstiden förmodas revisorsrotation stärka revisorns oberoende vilket i sin tur har en positiv inverkan på revisionskvaliteten. Tidigare studier menar att revisionskvaliteten utgörs av revisorns oberoende och kompetens. Medan en del studier hävdar att revisorsrotation stärker revisorns oberoende och därmed ökar revisionskvaliteten, hävdar andra studier att revisorsrotation försämrar revisorns kompetens vilket har en negativ inverkan på revisionskvaliteten. Mot denna bakgrund är det intressant att studera hur revisorerna själva upplever att reglerna om revisorsrotation inverkar på deras oberoende, kompetens och revisionskvalitet.  Problemformulering: Hur upplever revisorer att de obligatoriska reglerna om revisorsrotation inverkar på revisionskvaliteten? Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att skapa förståelse för revisorsrotationens konsekvenser på revisionskvalitet utifrån revisorers uppfattningar. Denna studie bidrar således till att öka kunskap om revisorsrotationens inverkan på revisorns oberoende och revisorns kompetens utifrån revisorernas egna uppfattningar. Metod: Studien har genomförts med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod och datainsamlingen har skett genom sex semistrukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuade respondenter är auktoriserade revisorer som har relevant kunskap om revisorsrotation. Resultat och slutsats: Denna studie visar att revisorer upplever att revisorsrotation stärker revisorns oberoende och kan därför ha en positiv inverkan på revisionskvaliteten. Revisorsrotation upplevs även ha en positiv inverkan på revisorns kompetens då revisorsrotation ger revisorn ett nytt perspektiv på revisionsuppdraget vilket förbättrar hens förmåga att upptäcka oegentligheter i finansiella rapporter. Studien visar samtidigt på att revisorer upplever en negativ inverkan på revisorns kompetens som i sin tur har en negativ inverkan på revisionskvaliteten eftersom den insamlade kunskapen om klienten förloras vid en rotation. Studien har verifierat resultaten i många tidigare studier dessutom har funnit att klientens storlek har en inverkan på revisorns oberoende och längden på uppdraget. / Background: An unlimited audit tenure is assumed to have a negative impact on the audit quality. The auditor rotation rules were introduced in order to improve the audit quality. By limiting the assignment time, auditor rotation is assumed to strengthen the auditor's independence, which in turn has a positive impact on the audit quality. Previous studies believe that the audit quality consists of the auditor's independence and competence. While some studies claim that auditor rotation strengthens the auditor's independence and thus increases the audit quality, other studies claim that auditor rotation impairs the auditor's competence and that has a negative impact on the audit quality. Against this background, it is interesting to study how the auditors themselves feel that the auditor rotation rules affect their independence, competence and audit quality. Questions: How do auditors feel that the mandatory auditor rotation rules affect the audit quality? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how the auditor rotation rules affect the audit quality based on auditors' perceptions. This study thus contributes to increased knowledge about the impact of auditor rotation on the auditor's independence and the auditor's competence based on the auditors' own perceptions. Method: The study was conducted using a qualitative method and the data collection took place through six semi-structured interviews. The interviewed respondents were authorized auditors who had appropriate knowledge about the auditor rotation.  Results and conclusion: This study shows that auditors feel that auditor rotation rules strengthen the auditor's independence and can therefore have a positive impact on audit quality. Auditor rotation is also perceived to have a positive impact on the auditor's competence as auditor rotation gives the auditor a new perspective on the audit tenure, which improves her ability to detect irregularities in the financial reports. At the same time, the study shows that auditors also experience a negative impact on the auditor's competence, which in turn has a negative impact on the audit quality. Because the auditor rotation leads to the auditor losing client-specific information. This study verifies the previous studies' conclusions but also shows that the client size has also an impact on the auditor’s independence and the length of the tenure.

I Sverige begränsas allmänna och publika bolags totala uppdragstid för en revisor genom ett flertal lagbestämmelser samt kontinuerliga revisors- och byrårotationer. Mindre aktiebolag i Sverige hamnar dock ofta utanför dessa bestämmelser, vilket resulterar i att den enskilde revisorn i hög grad behöver utgå ifrån principbaserade bestämmelser vid svåra avvägningar. De principbaserade bestämmelserna har varit föremål för förändring under de senaste åren, eftersom uppdragstiderna oftast är betydligt längre i mindre bolag gentemot stora bolag. Detta skapar ett spelrum som ställer högre krav på att revisorn agerar utefter en moralnivå som passar yrket för att uppfylla den integritet och objektivitet som yrket kräver, samt för att undvika att oberoendeställningen påverkas eller kritiseras av samhället. Syftet med uppsatsen var att kvalitativt utreda hur olika revisorer uppfattar problematiken kring deras oberoendeställning, som är förknippat med uppdragstiden. Genom att identifiera revisorers individuella uppfattningar kring integritet, objektivitet och deras oberoendeställning har det även kunnat att därefter att analysera vad för påverkningar deras etiska perspektiv samt moraliska nivå har, således förklarar denna uppsats hur deras oberoendeställning kan påverkas av en bestämd uppdragstid i mindre bolag. Resultatet visar att det finns vissa skillnader i hur revisorer ser på problematiken gällande oberoende förknippad till uppdragstiden, eftersom de revisorer som ingick i studien resonerade utifrån olika etiska perspektiv samt olika nivåer av moral men i slutändan hade de liknande uppfattningar kring detta område. / In Sweden, general and public companies' total assignment time for an auditor is limited through a several of legal provisions and continuous auditors and agency rotations. However, smaller limited companies in Sweden often end up outside these regulations, which results in the individual auditor needs to be largely based on principle-based regulations for difficult trade-offs. The principle-based regulations have been the subject of change in recent years, as assignment times are usually considerably longer in smaller companies towards large companies. This creates a space for maneuver that places higher demands that the auditor acts along a moral level that fits the profession to fulfill the integrity and objectivity to which the profession requires, as well as to avoid the fact that the independence is affected or criticized by society. The purpose of the study was to qualitatively investigate how different auditors perceive the problem of independence, which is associated with the mission time. Resultatet visar att det finns vissa skillnader i hur revisorer ser på problematiken gällande oberoende förknippad till uppdragstiden, eftersom de som ingick i studien resonerade utifrån olika etiska perspektiv samt olika nivåer av moral. Men i slutändan hade de liknande uppfattningar kring detta område. By identifying auditors' individual perceptions of integrity, objectivity and their independence has done it possible to analyses what kind of affections their ethical perspective and level of moral has, by other words does this study explains how auditors' independence can getting affected by designed assignment time in smaller companies. The result shows that there are some differences in how auditors look at the problems regarding independence associated to designed assignment time for smaller companies, since the auditors' that were included in this study reasoned based on different ethical perspective and levels of morality. But in the end did they have similar perceptions regarding this area.

Syfte: Denna studie undersöker revisorernas roll i att förebygga ekonomisk brottslighet för att öka kunskap och medvetenhet om arbetsuppgifterna och effektiviteten hos revisorer i ett brottsförebyggande syfte. Metod: Studien utgår från en abduktiv forskningsansats med kvalitativ forskningsmetod som används för att få in olika perspektiv med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer från olika intressenter. Studien samlade in primärdata från tre auktoriserade revisorer, en förundersökningsledare från finanspolisen och en ekobrotts revisor från Ekobrottsmyndigheten (EBM).  Slutsats: I slutsatsen framkommer att revisorer spelar en kritisk men komplex roll i brottsförebyggande arbete, som inte alltid är i linje med intressenternas förväntningar. Att stärka revisorernas funktioner och förtydliga lagkraven och etiska normer kan överbrygga förväntningsgapet. Dessutom skulle ett förbättrat samarbete mellan myndigheter och kontinuerlig utbildning av revisorer i nya trender inom ekonomisk brottslighet kunna förbättra revisorernas effektivitet när det gäller att förebygga ekonomisk brottslighet. / Purpose: This study examines the role of auditors in preventing financial crime in order to increase knowledge and awareness of the duties and effectiveness of auditors in crime prevention, to understand the ongoing conflict surrounding the role of the audit industry in these efforts. Method: The study is based on a deductive research approach with a qualitative research approach used to collect in-depth perspectives through semi-structured interviews with respondents from various actors. The study collected primary data from three chartered auditors, a financial police investigator and an economics crime auditor from the Economic Crime Authority (EBM). Conclusion: The conclusion shows that auditors play a critical but complex role in crime prevention work, which is not always in line with actors' expectations. Strengthening auditors' functions and clarifying legal requirements and ethical standards can bridge the expectation gap. In addition, improved cooperation between agencies and continuous training of auditors in new trends in financial crime could improve auditors' effectiveness in preventing financial crime.

As a result of crisis and scandals, a lot of criticism has been emphasized against an auditor’sindependence and profession. In order to re-establish confidence in financial statements, theEuropean Commission introduced a Green Paper that above all included a proposal of mandatoryaudit firm rotation aiming to enhance an auditor's independence. The aim of this thesis istherefore to describe whether an auditor’s independence may be affected by the new lawregarding Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation, by contributing with more information regarding auditfirm rotation based on Swedish companies from the Swedish market. The study is based on a quantitative approach using a multivariate logistic regression in order tocompile and analyze the results. Six hypotheses have been tested in order to determine whetherchosen variables may affect an auditor's independence and their statements. Based on our results,we accepted four hypotheses, showing that four variables have an influence on qualified opinion,with rotation as a reference variable. The four variables are leverage, size, specialist and losswhich showed a statistically significance using a 5% significance level. The results imply thataudit firm rotation may enhance an auditor's independence.

During the last decade, there has been severe critique directed at the auditing profession regarding its necessity and accuracy. Auditors have been accused of neglecting their duty to the public interest, which is overshadowed by their financial dependence on the audited companies. In light on several large audit failures, the users of the audit report have demanded more information be released regarding the company and the audit process. In response to this, several standard setting bodies have released new regulatory suggestions regarding the audit report. Among the revised regulations that are relevant to Sweden are the ISA 700 (revised) and the newly created ISA 701, both of which become effective starting December 2016. FAR, the Swedish Professional Institution for Authorized Accountants and Auditors, have expressed concerns regarding the effect of the implementation of the Key Audit Matters in combination with the Swedish confidentiality clause, by which auditors must abide. These revisions are meant to increase the informative value of the audit report for the users, where the main users of the audit report are non-professional investors. Due to this, along with lacking research on the topic of Swedish non-professional investors in this context, we have chosen to focus our thesis on the effects of the changes to the audit report in relation to the investment behavior of this specific group. Research Question: How is the Swedish adaptation of ISA 700 (revised) and ISA 701 likely to impact the perceived value of the new audit report to young Swedish nonprofessional investors? We have conducted an online questionnaire with an attached case, derived from a listed British company that has already made similar changes to their audit report format. Based on the responses of 100 young Swedish non-professional investors, we found that the new changes to the audit report, as we presented them, had positive effect on the young non-professional investors perception on the audit report. Of the respondents, 64% viewed the new audit report as significantly more informative than the current Swedish audit report. Both new information, in the form of the audit resolution paragraph, and useful information, in the form of the Key Audit Matters paragraph, statement of the audit firm, and movement of the audit opinion, was perceive by the respondents. In addition to this, we found that 63% of our sample would read the audit report in the future, as compared to 49% today. However, we are unsure of whether these positive effects will be observe following the Swedish implementation of the changes, due to FAR and Swedish auditors hesitation toward the Key Audit Matters.

本研究欲探討在中國大陸審計市場中，會計師事務所產業專精度對於審計品質之影響，並進一步研究不同城市層級之產業專精度對於審計品質有無差別。 研究結果顯示，在產業專家以特定產業客戶在會計師事務所客戶組合中所佔比率之定義下，無法發現由產業專家會計師事務所查核之公司，其審計品質較佳；但進一步考慮城市層級因素後，實證結果發現城市會對產業專精度造成影響，支持假說二，審計品質較佳。造成此結果之可能係因掛靠制度及政府之尋租行為所造成中國審計市場分割與分散特性，且使得上市公司對事務所的選擇並不重視其審計品質的高低，而是更看重會計師事務所的掛靠單位，使得中國會計師事務所無法發展整體之產業專家。 / The objective of this thesis is to examine whether auditor’s industry specialization at the city-level affects the audit quality in China. In addition, we classify industry auditor expertise at the city level into the following two groups, and further investigate whether the association between industry expertise and audit quality differs between these two groups: (1) Directly Controlled Municipalities or locations of Stock Exchange (therefore DCM); (2)non-Directly Controlled Municipalities or non locations of Stock Exchange (non-DCM). The empirical results find no statistically significant association between audit quality and industry specialization at the city level in China. However, the results document that the association between industry expertise and audit quality are more pronounced for the DCM group than for the non-DCM, consistent with our prediction.