Behavioral Research in Auditing and Its Impact on Audit Education

Abstract

Auditing is inherently a judgment process. In the past 25 years a large body of research related to auditor judgment has raised numerous issues about the manner in which audits are performed and the nature of education and training that is appropriate for individuals entering the profession. Current trends in auditing away from overly structured methods to more subjective, risk-based approaches exacerbate the judgment demands placed on auditors and make it increasingly more critical that issues of auditor judgment and decision making be integrated into audit education. The need for auditing students to be exposed to a breadth of substantive business and accounting topics is more pronounced than ever before. Auditors do not merely dwell in a world of debits and credits, but rather must deal with the more challenging issues of risks, controls, performance measurement, and audit evidence. To rise to these challenges, new graduates need to develop skills in critical reasoning, information search, interpersonal interaction, communication, and decision making. When I started teaching auditing 20 years ago, I approached the topic from a highly structured and quantitative viewpoint. In recent years, I have come to realize that the judgmental, decision-making aspects of auditing are critical. Auditing courses may be best suited to facilitate the development of necessary analytical skills by embracing current trends in audit practice and exposing students to complex, realistic, and interactive learning exercises such as cases, role playing, debates, online exercises, and classroom presentations that reflect the challenges of the dynamic environment of auditing in 2000 and beyond.