Information Processing Strategy During Analytical Procedures: Where and How Auditors Focus Their Attention

Abstract

Experienced auditors used computerized case materials to perform analytical procedures and identify audit planning concerns. Process‐racing software monitored information search patterns and provided evidence about where and how participants focused their attention. Half of the participants examined a case with seeded problems, which provided a basis for examining whether task conditions influence processing strategy. Participants focused primarily on comparative financial statement account balances and secondarily on financial ratios, which suggests that planning analytical procedures cannot be operationalized as a ratio analysis task. Participants who used a configural information processing strategy spent more time on task. Configural processing was also associated with an increase in the number of documented planning concerns, but only for the case without seeded problems. Neither case differences nor auditor experience had a direct effect on the use of a configural information processing strategy.