FAR Working Paper 2020/12-06: Professional Skepticism Traits and Fraud Brainstorming Quality
Auditing standards emphasize that fraud detection is an important objective of an audit and require the exercise of professional skepticism (PS) and a discussion among the engagement team to prevent and detect fraud. The purpose of this study is to examine whether professional skepticism is a driver of fraud brainstorming quality. We investigate the relationship between fraud brainstorming quality, using the measure of Brazel et al. (2010), and auditor’s professional skepticism traits. Using proprietary data from Dutch audit firms on 125 engagements, we find that neutral trait skepticism and professional moral courage of the partner have a significant effect on fraud brainstorming quality. We observe a higher attendance rate and contribution of specialists, more extensive discussion, longer preparation, and longer sessions for engagements led by partners with high neutral trait skepticism and high moral courage. We find no significant results for partners with a high presumptive doubt trait. Additional cross-sectional analyses show that the effect of professional skepticism on FBQ depends on situational, organizational conditions.
Authors
Kris Hardies obtained his Ph.D. from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2011, worked at the University of Florida in 2012 and is currently an associate professor at the Universiteit Antwerpen where he teaches accounting and auditing at the BSc and MSc level. His research interests include professional skepticism, personality and individual differences, capital markets and firm behavior, and gender inequality. His recent research focuses on the effects of personality and individual differences among auditors on audit quality. His work has been published in journals such as Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Accounting Horizon, European Accounting Review, International Journal of Auditing, and Economics Letters.
Ann Vanstraelen is Full Professor of Accounting and Assurance Services at Maastricht University and serves as Head of the department of Accounting and Information Management. She coordinates the multidisciplinary research theme "Culture, Ethics and Leadership". She earned her PhD at the University of Antwerp. Her research interests relate to the broad field of auditing and assurance services, governance, corporate reporting and disclosure, with a specific focus on the quality of accounting and auditing practices.
PhD Researcher at University of Antwerp & Maastricht University
