Cookie preferences
Settings I agree

FAR Literature Review: Involvement in the Development of Data Analytics and Auditors’ Application of Professional Skepticism

Audit firms around the globe have invested heavily in a variety of audit technologies (e.g., Alles & Gray 2016; Deloitte 2016; KPMG 2016, 2019; EY 2017, 2018; PwC 2019; Bloomberg 2020; Eilifsen, Kinserdal, Messier, & McKee 2020; Austin, Carpenter, Christ, & Nielson 2021). Of these technological developments, audit data analytics (ADA) are receiving increased attention because they enable auditors to incorporate more diverse data and visualizations into their testing (i.e., graphical representations such as charts, scatter diagrams, trend lines, or maps). The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) defines ADA as “the science and art of discovering and analyzing patterns, identifying anomalies, and extracting other useful information in data underlying or related to the subject matter of an audit through analysis, modeling, and visualization for the purpose of planning or performing the audit” (AICPA 2015, p.92; 2017, p.1). The current study focuses on ADA visualizations, which can aid auditors when scrutinizing audit evidence and ultimately improve audit quality (e.g., AICPA 2017; Anders 2017; FRC 2017; O’Donnell, O’Mara, Rast, & Sand 2017).

Authors

Prof. dr. Anna Gold

Anna Gold is Professor of Auditing at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Adjunct Professor at Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). She earned her PhD at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests are in the judgment and decision-making area, primarily applied to the field of auditing. Her research has focused on the impact of regulatory changes (e.g., fraud consultation, audit firm rotation, and auditor reporting standard changes) on judgments and decisions of auditors, preparers, and financial statement users. She has also examined how auditors and audit firms manage errors and whether varying the error management climate affects auditors’ error reporting willingness and learning. Her current work focuses on how auditors use specialist advice, the communication between auditors and audit committees, and auditors’ use of audit technology. 

She has published her research in outlets such as The Accounting ReviewContemporary Accounting ResearchAuditing: A Journal of Practice & TheoryAccounting Horizons, Journal of Business Ethics, and International Journal of AuditingProfessor Gold currently serves as editor at The Accounting Review (2020-2023) and Maandblad voor Accountancy en Bedrijfseconomie (since 2018). She is a member of the editorial board of Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory.

Prof. Joseph Brazel

Joseph Brazel is the Jenkins Distinguished Professor of Accounting and a University Faculty Scholar at North Carolina State University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in auditing and assurance services. His research focuses on professional skepticism, fraud detection, data analytics, non-financial measures, investor and CFO responses to fraud red flags, fraud brainstorming, and judgment and decision-making in auditing. He has published in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Review of Accounting Studies, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, and the Journal of Business Ethics. Dr. Brazel is also a monthly contributor at Forbes.com. The Center for Audit Quality (CAQ), Foundation for Auditing Research (FAR), Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) Research Institute, International Association for Accounting Education and Research, Institute for Fraud Prevention, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation, Institute of Management Accountants, Institute of Internal Auditors, Ernst and Young, KMPG, and North Carolina State University have all supplied him with grants to support his research. Prior to obtaining his Ph.D., Dr. Brazel was an audit manager with Deloitte.

Dr. Justin Leiby

Justin Leiby is an Associate Professor of Accountancy, Disruption & Innovation Scholar, & Professor Ken Perry Faculty Fellow at the University of Illinois Gies College of Business. Justin’s teaching infuses empathic decision-making concepts into auditing, analytics, and risk management, helping students “bring empathy to the data” to better serve stakeholders. Professor Leiby’s research focuses on the motivations and incentives of professionals in areas such as professional skepticism, quality control, human capital, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Professor Leiby has published research in leading scholarly journals and has presented to a variety of scholarly, regulatory, and professional audiences in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He earned a doctorate at the University of Illinois and undergraduate degrees in Accounting and German at the University of Pittsburgh.

Xiaoxing Li PhD student

Xiaoxing Li is a PhD candidate at the Department of Accounting, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her research interests are auditors’ judgment and decision making. She is currently working on her PhD dissertation in the areas of audit technologies and auditors’ professional skepticism.

Back to overview