ABSTRACT

Client inquiry is a foundational financial statement audit procedure. However, the literature offers little evidence regarding how auditors perform client inquiry and how note taking during client inquiry is associated with audit quality. We conduct a mixed-methods study to examine these issues. First, we conduct interviews with seven highly-experienced auditors and five staff auditors to understand current practices regarding client inquiries, as well as evaluating and documenting evidence gathered from client inquiries. These interviews provide a thorough description of inquiry, highlighting that auditors routinely take notes during inquiry but can have difficulty with the interrelated, complex cognitive tasks of asking questions, processing client answers, and taking notes during inquiry. Second, we conduct two experiments to examine the impact of note taking during inquiry on skeptical judgments. Results from both experiments indicate that auditors taking note of more ideas during the inquiry is positively associated with memory accuracy. However, this does not improve skeptical judgments, and may lead to less skeptical judgments. Our second experiment indicates a prompt to develop expectations prior to the inquiry improves identification of inconsistencies in the inquiry, leading to more skeptical judgments. We offer contributions to the academic literature and practice, and suggestions for future research.

摘要

客户查询是一项基本的财务报表审计程序。然而，关于审计师如何进行客户询问以及在客户询问期间做笔记如何与审计质量相关联，文献提供的证据很少。我们进行了一项混合方法研究来检查这些问题。首先，我们采访了七位经验丰富的审计师和五位员工审计师，以了解当前有关客户询问的做法，以及评估和记录从客户询问中收集的证据。这些访谈提供了对询问的全面描述，强调审计师在询问期间经常做笔记，但在询问问题、处理客户答案和在询问期间做笔记等相互关联的复杂认知任务方面可能会遇到困难。第二，我们进行了两个实验来检查在询问期间记笔记对怀疑判断的影响。两个实验的结果都表明，审计员在询问过程中注意到更多的想法与记忆准确性呈正相关。然而，这并不能改善怀疑的判断，并且可能导致怀疑的判断减少。我们的第二个实验表明，在询问之前提示制定期望可以提高对询问中不一致的识别，从而导致更多的怀疑判断。我们为学术文献和实践做出贡献，并对未来的研究提出建议。这不会改善怀疑的判断，并可能导致怀疑的判断减少。我们的第二个实验表明，在询问之前提示制定期望可以提高对询问中不一致的识别，从而导致更多的怀疑判断。我们为学术文献和实践做出贡献，并对未来的研究提出建议。这不会改善怀疑的判断，并可能导致怀疑的判断减少。我们的第二个实验表明，在询问之前提示制定期望可以提高对询问中不一致的识别，从而导致更多的怀疑判断。我们为学术文献和实践做出贡献，并对未来的研究提出建议。