Integrating business risk into auditor judgment about the risk of material misstatement: The influence of a strategic-systems-audit approach

Abstract

Auditing standards direct auditors to consider business risk and other risk factors when they evaluate the overall risk of material misstatement during the planning phase of an audit. Large audit firms generally use either a strategic-systems approach (SSA) or a transaction-focused approach (TFA) to evaluate misstatement risk. This study used data from a laboratory experiment to examine whether (1) being trained to use either SSA or TFA and (2) analyzing information organized in an SSA or TFA format influence the extent to which auditors integrate knowledge of business risk into their judgment about the likelihood of financial misstatement. Only auditors trained to use SSA who analyzed information provided in an SSA format effectively integrated business risk assessments with their assessment of the risk of material misstatement.