Conceptualization of Auditors' Experiences of Professional Skepticism: A Phenomenographic Study

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Accounting, Faculty of Administrative Sciences & Economic, Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, Iran.

2 Department of Accounting Department, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22103/jak.2024.23109.4027

Abstract

Objective: Professional skepticism is a fundamental concept in the auditing process, and both researchers and standard setters have consistently emphasized the importance of applying appropriate levels of professional judgment in auditing. The purpose of this study is to explore auditors’ experiences and perceptions of professional skepticism and to classify the conceptual dimensions through which auditors understand and apply this phenomenon in practice.
 
Method: The approach of the present study is interpretive and qualitative phenomenology, employing a maximum variation sampling method. The data were collected in 2023 through interviews with 14 auditing professionals and analyzed using MAXQDA software.
 
Results: According to the research findings, after analyzing the data collected from the interviews, five descriptive categories emerged of how auditors perceive and experience professional skepticism in auditing, which included Professional skepticism as the auditor's subjective attitude; Professional Skepticism as Knowledge Gained Over Time; Professional Skepticism as the Absence of the Presumption of Innocence in Auditing; Professional Skepticism as Situational Doubt; Professional Skepticism as a Culture of General Inquiry.
 
Conclusion: The wide range of auditors’ experiences and interpretations of professional skepticism highlights the conceptual and practical complexity of this construct. Accordingly, it is recommended that this issue be considered in educational planning, particularly in the design of accounting and auditing curricula as well as in training programs for auditors.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

ابراهیمی، نامدار و مهرمحمدی، محمود (1395). پرسشگری به مثابه فرهنگ. همایش انجمن مطالعات برنامه درسی، ایران. https://sid.ir/892787/fa.
خواستار، حمزه (1388). ارائه روشی برای محاسبه پایایی مرحله کدگذاری در مصاحبه‌های پژوهشی. روش‌شناسی علوم انسانی، 58، 174-161. https://method.rihu.ac.ir/article_418.html.
تحریری، آرش و پیری سقرلو، مهدی (1395). درک حسابرسان از مفهوم تردید حرفه‌ای در کار حسابرسی. بررسی‌های حسابداری و حسابرسی، 23(1)، 135-117. https://sid.ir/paper/8050/fa.
دانایی فرد، حسن و کاظمی، سیدحسین (1389). ارتقای پژوهش‌های تفسیری در سازمان: مروری بر مبانی فلسفی و فرایند اجرای روش پدیدارنگاری. مطالعات مدیریت بهبود و تحول، 61، 147-121. https://sid.ir/paper/202839/fa.
سپاسی، سحر و دیناربر، مینا (1394). ارائه مدلی تبیینی به منظور شناسایی عوامل مؤثر بر تردید حرفه‌ای حسابداران رسمی با رویکرد تحلیل عاملی اکتشافی و مدلسازی معادلات ساختاری. دانش حسابداری و حسابرسی مدیریت، 4(15)، 107-116. https://www.jmaak.ir/article_7740.html.
ستوده، مسعود؛ پورحیدری، امید و خدامی‌پور، احمد (1402). بررسی تأثیر فشار شغلی و تردید حرفه‌ای بر قضاوت حسابرس. تحقیقات حسابداری و حسابرسی، 58، 28-5. https://www.iaaaar.com/article_179244.html.
صفی‌پور افشار، مجتبی؛ پورحیدری، امید و بهارمقدم، مهدی (1397). بررسی تأثیر مدیریت حسابرسی توسط مدیران بر کشف تحریفات توسط حسابرسان با لحاظ ویژگی تردید حرفه‌ای حسابرس. دانش حسابداری و حسابرسی مدیریت، 7(25)، 80-67. https://www.jmaak.ir/article_11767.html.
غلامرضایی، محسن و حسنی، محمد (1398). تأثیر اختلالات شخصیت بر تردید حرفه‌ای حسابرسان مستقل. مجله دانش حسابداری، 10(2)، 76-43. https://jak.uk.ac.ir/article_2370.html.
فرج زاده دهکردی، حسن و مافی، میلاد (1402). گستره تجارب حسابرس در صنایع و اعمال تردید حرفه‌ای توسط حسابرس. پژوهش‌های تجربی حسابداری، 13(3)، 188-165. https://jera.alzahra.ac.ir/article_7341.html.
مدینه، سید محسن و زارع، ایمان (1402). تأثیر باورهای دینی بر تردید حرفه‌ای و ارزیابی حسابرسان از خطر تحریف با اهمیت: رویکرد مراتب دین‌داری از منظر اسلام. مجله دانش حسابداری، 14(4)، 132-111. https://jak.uk.ac.ir/article_3817.html.
مهرانی، ساسان؛ حساس یگانه، یحیی؛ ابویی اردکان، محمد و گنجی، حمیدرضا (1398). طراحی مدل تردید حرفه‌ای حسابرسی مبتنی بر نظریه مبنایی. دانش حسابرسی، 19(76)، 38-5. https://danesh.dmk.ir/article-1-2325-fa.html.
یوسف‌زاده، نسرین؛ پورحیدری، امید و خدامی‌پور، احمد (1399). بررسی تأثیر اطلاعات نامربوط و خطای جزئی در مدارک صاحبکار بر اندازه نمونه با توجه به ویژگی تردید حرفه‌ای. حسابداری ارزشی و رفتاری. ۵(۹)، 151-117. https://aapc.khu.ac.ir/article-1-767-fa.html.

References

Adikaram, R., & Higgs, J. (2024). Cognitive dissonance and auditor professional skepticism. Managerial Auditing Journal, 39(1), 71-110. https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/majpps/maj-08-2022-3653.html.
Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AUASB). (2009). Auditing considerations in an uncertain economic environment. AUASB Bulletin. [PDF].
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. (2007). AU Section 230: Due professional care in the performance of work. New York, NY: AICPA. https://www.aicpa.org.
Awadallah, E., & Saadullah, S. (2024). Expanding the scope of professional skepticism in Qatar: Developing an Arabic Hurtt scale and examining influential factors among accountants. Management & Accounting Review (MAR), 23(1), 1-38. https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/93587/1/93587.pdf.
Bell, T.B., Peecher, M.E., & Solomon, I. (2005). The 21st century public company audit: Conceptual elements of KPMG’s global audit methodology. KPMG International, Zurich. https://cir.nii.ac.jp/1130000793848174208.
Brazel, J.F., Gimbar, C., Maksymov, E., & Schaefer, T.R. (2019). The outcome effect and professional skepticism: a replication and a failed attempt at mitigation. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 31(2), 135-143. https://doi.org/10.2308/bria-52306.
Carpenter, T.D., & Reimers, J.L. (2013). Professional skepticism: The effects of a partner's influence and the level of fraud indicators on auditors' fraud judgments and actions. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 25 (2), 45-69. https://doi.org/10.2308/bria-50468.
Choo, F., & Tan, K. (2000). Instruction, skepticism, and accounting students’ ability to detect frauds in auditing. Journal of the Academy of Business Education, 1(3), 72–87. https://www.sid.ir/paper/640628/en.
Cohen, R., Dalton, W., & Harp, L. (2017). Neutral and presumptive doubt perspectives of professional skepticism and auditor job outcomes. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 62, 1-20. https://doi.org/j.aos.2017.08.003.
Creswell, J.W. (2015). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. pearson. http://repository.unmas.ac.id/medias/journal/EBK-00121.pdf.
Das, T., & Teng, B. (2004). The risk-based view of trust: A conceptual framewor. Journal of Business and Psychology, 19(1), 85-116. https://doi.org/10.1023/B: JOBU.0000040274.23551.1b.
Danai Fard, H., & Kazemi, S.H. (2010). Promotion of interpretive research in the organization: a review of the philosophical foundations and the process of implementing the phenomenological method. Journal of Management Studies in Development and Evolution, 61, 121-147. https://jmsd.atu.ac.ir/article_4180.html [In Persian].
Ebrahimi, N., & Mehrmhammadi, M. (2016). Questioning as culture. Iranian Association of Curriculum Studies Association. https://sid.ir/paper/892787/fa [In Persian].
Endrawes, M. (2010). Professional sceptisicm of auditors: a cross-cultural experiment. Doctoral dissertation, University of Western Sydney, Australia. [PDF].
Farajzadeh Dehkordi, D., & Mafi, M. (2023). The scope of the auditor's experiences in industries and the application of professional skepticism by the auditor. Eexperimental accounting research, 13(3), 165-188. https://jera.alzahra.ac.ir/article_7341.html?lang=en [In Persian].
Gholamrezaee, M., & Hassani, M. (2019). The effect of personality disorders on the professional skepticism of independent auditors. Journal of Accounting Knowledge, 10(2), 43-76. https://jak.uk.ac.ir/article_2370.html?lang=en [In Persian].
Glover, S.M., & Prawitt, D.F. (2014). Enhancing auditor professional skepticism. Current Issues in Auditing, 8(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.2308/ciia-50895.
Järvinen, P. (2000). Research questions guiding selection of an appropriate research method. In Proceedings of ECIS2000,124-131. https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2000/26.
Hurtt, R.K., Eining, M., & Plumlee, R.D. )2008(. An experimental evaluation of professional skepticism. SSRN Electronic Journal, 1-38. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3624782.
Hurtt, K. (2010). Development of a scale to measure professional skepticism. Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, 29(1), 149-171. https://doi.org/10.2308/aud.2010.29.1.149.
Hurtt, K., Brown-Liburd, H., Earley, C.E., & Krishnamoorthy, G. (2013). Research on auditor professional skepticism: literature synthesis and opportunities for future research. Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, 32(1), 45-97. https://doi.org/10.2308/ajpt-50361.
Kadous, K. (2000). The effects of audit quality and consequence severity on juror evaluations of auditor for responsibility plaintiff losses. The Accounting Review, 75(3), 327-341. https://doi.org/accr.2000.75.3.327.
Khastar, H. (2009). Presenting a method for calculating the reliability of the coding stage in research interviews, Scientific-Research Quarterly Journal of Human Sciences Methodology, 58, 161-174. https://method.rihu.ac.ir [In Persian].
Lynch, E. (2017). The Effects of Irrelevant Information and Minor Errors in Client Documents on Assessments of Misstatement Risk and Sample Size, Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Commonwealth University. [Semantic Scholar].
Madineh, S.M., & Zare, I. (2023). The effect of religious beliefs on professional skepticism and auditors' assessment of the risk of material misstatement: With the approach of levels of religiosity from the perspective of Islam. Journal of Accounting Knowledge, 14(4), 111-132 https://jak.uk.ac.ir/article_3817.html?lang=en [In Persian].
Mehrani, S., Hassah Y.Y., Abuei A.M., & Ganji, H. (2019). Designing a professional doubt model of auditing based on grounded theory. Auditing Knowledge, 19(76), 5-38. https://sid.ir/paper/526675/fa [In Persian].
McMillan, J.J., & White, R.A. (1993). Auditors' belief revisions and evidence search: The effect of hypothesis frame, confirmation bias, and professional skepticism. Accounting Review, 443-465. https://www.jstor.org/248196.
Messier, W., Kozloski, T., & Kochetova- Kozloski, N. (2010). An analysis of SEC and PCAOB enforcement actions against engagement quality reviewers. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 29(2), 233–252. https://doi.org/10.2308/aud.2010.29.2.233.
Nelson, M.W. (2009). A model and literature review of professional skepticism in auditing. Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, 28(2), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.2308/aud.2009.28.2.1.
Patel, C., Harrison, G.L., & McKinnon, J.L. (2002). Cultural influences on judgments of professional accountants in auditor-client conflict resolution. Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting, 13(1), 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-646X.00077.
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). (2012). Maintaining and applying professional skepticism in audits. https://pcaobus.org.
Quadackers, L., Groot, T., & Wright, A. (2014). Auditors’ professional skepticism: Neutrality versus presumptive doubt. Contemporary Accounting Research, https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.12052.
Safipour Afshar, M., Pourheidari, O., & Bahar Moghadam, M. (2018). The effect of audit management by managers on detection of misstatements by auditors considering professional skepticism of auditors. Journal of Management Accounting and Auditing Knowledge, 7(25), 67-80. https://www.jmaak.ir/article_11767.html [In Persian].
Shaub, M.K. (1996). Trust and suspicion; the effects of situational and dispositional factors on auditors' trust of clients. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 8, 154-174. https://www.econbiz.de/Record/trust-and-suspicion-the-effects-of-situational-and-dispositional-factors-on-auditors-trust-of-clients-shaub-michael/10007133614.
Sepasi, S., & Dinarber, M. (2015). A conceptual model for Iranian CPA's professional skepticism using EFA and SE modeling. Journal of Management Accounting and Auditing Knowledge, 4(15), 107-116. https://www.jmaak.ir [In Persian].
Sotoudeh, M., Pourheidari, O., & Khodamipour, A. (2023). Examining the effect of job pressure and professional doubt on auditor judgment. Accounting and Auditing Research, 58, 5-28. https://www.iaaaar.com/article_179244 [In Persian].
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (2012). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and stages of production of grounded theory. Translated by Ebrahim Afshar, Tehran: Ney Publishing. [Amazon].
Tahriri, A., & Pirisagherlo, M (2016). Auditors' understanding of the concept of professional doubt In audit work. Quarterly Journal of the Iranian Accounting and Auditing Review, 23(1),117-135. https://sid.ir/paper/8050/fa [In Persian].
Toba, Y. (2012). Toward a conceptual framework of professional skepticism in auditing. Ph.D. Dissertation, Waseda University. [PDF].
Yankova, K. (2015). The influence of information order effects and trait professional skepticism on auditors’ belief revisions: A Theoretical and empirical analysis. Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-658-08871-2.
Yousefzadeh, N., Pourheidari, O., & Khodamipour, A. (2020). The Effects of Irrelevant Information and Minor Error in Client Documents on Sample Size Considering Trait Professional Skepticism. Journal of Value and Behavioral Accounting, 5 (9) ,117-151. https://aapc.khu.ac.ir/article-1-767-en.html [In Persian].

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 17 March 2024
  • Revise Date: 18 May 2024
  • Accept Date: 25 May 2024

Share

How to cite

Statistics