Behavioral aspects of auditor's professional judgment and professional skepticism

Abstract

The paper examines the behavioral aspects of auditing in the context of auditor’s independence, auditor’s professional judgment, and professional skepticism. Over the past 50 years, in the researches of foreign scientists, the issues of accounting and auditing have been considered through the theory of behavioral accounting. On the other hand, in the studies of Ukrainian scientists, behavioral accounting in accounting and auditing was almost not considered. The main meaning of the theory of behavioral accounting is not to consider accounting and auditing exclusively in numbers, but to consider that accountants and auditors are people with a specific profession who behave according to their feelings and thoughts. It is customary to consider the concept of behavioral accounting according to the following topics: the influence of accounting information on behavior, management control, audit, ethics. Behavioral aspects of the auditor's independence, which are influenced by an auditor's personal prejudices and the auditor-client relationship, are studied. Auditor’s independence is considered in two dimensions - organizational independence and operational independence. E.g., independent auditors may face the problem of conflicting interests of the public and clients. Behavioral aspects of negotiations between the auditor and the client are also considered. The negotiation tactics used by the participants matter. It can be a yielding tactic, or a tactic of disputes. In particular, in the study of accommodating tactics, it was found that both auditors and clients reciprocated the accommodating negotiation tactics. There are many models of professional skepticism that have been summarized. Nelson and Hurtt's models are considered, the two fundamental components of which are professional skeptical judgment and professional skeptical action. Auditors should exercise professional skepticism, making judgments based on audit evidence without being influenced by clients.