The concept of the auditor's professional skepticism and its genesis

Abstract

The paper considers such a fundamental principle of audit as the auditor's professional skepticism. Guided by an integrated approach, the conceptual foundations of professional skepticism, patterns of its origin, its formation and development are determined depending on the understanding of the public function of audit and the auditor's duty to detect the fraud at the appropriate historical stage. It is noted that the concept of skepticism has a deep history and is considered in philosophy, psychology, law and other sciences. It is concluded that in the aspect of audit the methodological skepticism deserves attention, which is not limited to doubt, but is aimed at making sound hypotheses. Their construction and verification are subject to the general laws of gnoseology, which directly apply to the auditor's cognitive activity. Based on this approach, it is proposed to consider a hypothetical judgment in audit activity to identify and assess the risks of fraud from the standpoint of professional skepticism as making and verifying assumptions in the form of a version. Thus, the professional judgment of the auditor, which takes the form of professional skepticism, is necessarily based on the conclusions of the opposite or contradictory judgment. The paper also presents a critical assessment of the Law of Ukraine "On Auditing Financial Statements and Auditing" to determine the content of professional skepticism. The ways to improve national legislation and its conformation with the requirements of International Standards on Audit are proposed.