The Impact of SAS No. 82 on Perceptions of External Auditor Responsibility for Fraud Detection

Abstract

This study evaluates whether perceptions of external auditor responsibility to detect fraud in US financial statement audits are greater under Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 82 than under the superseded SAS No. 53. A series of four fraud vignettes were evaluated by external auditors, internal auditors, and fraud examiners who were either given a summary of the new standard or the old standard to assess auditor fraud detection responsibilities. The vignettes manipulated fraud materiality and fraud type (i.e. fraudulent financial reporting and misappropriation of assets) within‐subject. The results provide consistent evidence that perceptions of external auditor responsibility to detect fraud are higher under SAS No. 82 than under SAS No. 53. In addition, the results indicate that the external auditors' perceptions increased more than the perceptions of the internal auditors and fraud examiners. Finally, the findings revealed that while all participant groups were sensitive to fraud materiality, only the external auditors were sensitive to fraud type.