IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bjz/ajisjr/2430.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

IT Knowledge Requirements of an External Auditor

Author

Listed:
  • Simphiwe Mahlangu
  • Riyad Moosa

Abstract

The growing use of Information Technology (IT) systems in businesses necessitates the hiring of auditors who have IT knowledge and abilities. An external auditor’s competence in IT ensures that the audit is run professionally and effectively. Consequently, the objective of this study was to ascertain the current state of IT knowledge among external auditors. This study followed a quantitative descriptive research design. Data was collected using a questionnaire, and analysed using descriptive statistics. A total of 62 external auditors from three small to medium-sized audit firms completed the questionnaire. The results reported in the study show that the respondents believed that the IT proficiency of external auditors is currently low, including the identification of IT technologies (cognitive technologies, data analytics, smart digital platforms, and blockchain systems) that are growing in importance for external auditors. The results of this study are important, as they provide insight into the perspectives of external auditors with regards to their IT knowledge and skill when conducting audits. As such, a number of recommendations are provided to audit firms, regulators, and professional accounting bodies.

Suggested Citation

  • Simphiwe Mahlangu & Riyad Moosa, 2023. "IT Knowledge Requirements of an External Auditor," Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Richtmann Publishing Ltd, vol. 12, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bjz:ajisjr:2430
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2023-0097
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.richtmann.org/journal/index.php/ajis/article/view/13380
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.richtmann.org/journal/index.php/ajis/article/view/13380/12965
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/https://doi.org/10.36941/ajis-2023-0097?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:eme:marpps:10222529200400012 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Vangelis Tsiligiris & Dorothea Bowyer, 2021. "Exploring the impact of 4IR on skills and personal qualities for future accountants: a proposed conceptual framework for university accounting education," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(6), pages 621-649, November.
    3. Jeffrey Cohen & Ganesh Krishnamoorthy & Arnold Wright, 2017. "Enterprise Risk Management and the Financial Reporting Process: The Experiences of Audit Committee Members, CFOs, and External Auditors," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(2), pages 1178-1209, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sinziana-Maria Rindasu & Ioan Dan Topor & Liliana Ionescu-Feleaga, 2023. "The Evolution of Management Accountants' Digital Skills in Industry 4.0: A Qualitative Approach," Oblik i finansi, Institute of Accounting and Finance, issue 1, pages 38-48, March.
    2. Su, Kun & Zhang, Miaomiao & Liu, Chengyun, 2022. "Financial derivatives, analyst forecasts, and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from an emerging market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Raden Roro Widya Ningtyas Soeprajitno & Sri Ningsih & Iman Harymawan & Bablu Kumar Dhar & Suham Cahyono, 2023. "The School-ties Between Top Management Executive and Audit Partner: Exploring From Earnings Management in Indonesia," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    4. Ben Kajwang, 2022. "Theoretical review of enterprise risk management culture drivers for insurance firms in Kenya," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 11(5), pages 210-217, July.
    5. Apostolou, Barbara & Dorminey, Jack W. & Hassell, John M., 2022. "Accounting education literature review (2021)," Journal of Accounting Education, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    6. Jianxiong Chen & Chung-Cheng Yang, 2021. "Competitive Revenue Strategies in the Medical Consumables Industry: Evidence from Human Resources, Research and Development Expenses and Industry Life Cycle," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-20, March.
    7. Valeriu Brabete & Catalin Mihail Barbu & Daniel Circiumaru & Daniel Goagara & Dorel Berceanu, 2024. "Redesign of Accounting Education to Meet the Challenges of Artificial Intelligence – A Literature Review," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 26(65), pages 275-275, February.
    8. Cenar Iuliana & Leba (Botar) Claudia-Florina, 2022. "Ï»¿Premises Of Digital Accounting Education At The Preuniversity Educational Level. Case Study Research," Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, Faculty of Sciences, "1 Decembrie 1918" University, Alba Iulia, vol. 1(24), pages 1-4.
    9. Johnston, Joseph & Soileau, Jared, 2020. "Enterprise risk management and accruals estimation error," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3).
    10. Mehmet-Ali Yüzbaşıoğlu, 2024. "Protection of Personal Data in Computerized Accounting Programs," European Journal of Formal Sciences and Engineering Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 7, January -.
    11. Bryan K. Church & Narisa Tianjing Dai & Xi (Jason) Kuang & Xuejiao Liu, 2020. "The Role of Auditor Narcissism in Auditor–Client Negotiations: Evidence from China," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 1756-1787, September.
    12. Grygoriy Shamborovskyi & Yuliia Nehoda & Nataliya Demidova & Volodymyr Tarashchenko & Svitlana Breus, 2021. "Modeling Study on Risk Identification in the Process of Anti-Crisis Enterprise Management," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-14, February.
    13. Mohamed Gaber & Samy Garas & Edward Lusk, 2020. "Audit risk calibration: Extending the Non-GAAP SEC-Filter," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 9(4), pages 182-195, July.
    14. Nguyen, Quang Khai, 2022. "Determinants of bank risk governance structure: A cross-country analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    15. Monique Micallef & Cheryl Mifsud & Lauren Ellul & Peter J. Baldacchino & Simon Grima, 2023. "The Skill Set Required in the Accounting Workplace: Perspectives of Accounting Graduates and Warrant Holders," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 117-145.
    16. Steven DeSimone & Giuseppe D’Onza & Gerrit Sarens, 2018. "Correlates of Sustainability Audits by Internal Auditors," Working Papers 1803, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    17. Rasa Subačienė & Ramunė Budrionytė & Jolanta Žemgulienė & Ivita Faituša, 2022. "Modern Accounting Specialist in New Economic Reality: Cases of Lithuania and Latvia," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, September.
    18. Peter Blokland & Genserik Reniers, 2019. "An Ontological and Semantic Foundation for Safety and Security Science," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-25, October.
    19. Dan Dacian Cuzdriorean, 2018. "Auditing Research: A Review Of Recent Research Advances," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 6(4), pages 14-26.
    20. Green, Wendy J. & Cheng, Mandy M., 2019. "Materiality judgments in an integrated reporting setting: The effect of strategic relevance and strategy map," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-14.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bjz:ajisjr:2430. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Richtmann Publishing Ltd (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.richtmann.org/journal/index.php/ajis .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.