1. Introduction
Over the past 20 years, research has been carried out to interpret audit quality and still no agreement on the method of measurement for audit quality.
This is because audit quality depends on individual understandings, and those conceptions rely on whose perspectives are taken into consideration.
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s (IAASB) lately established Framework for Audit Quality (the Framework) in the purpose to systemize the present thoughts and the main aspects that emphasize audit quality. It categorizes these into inputs, outputs, interactions and contextual aspects (refer Appendices, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2).
In general, studies are concentrated on the qualities of the auditor and the audit team as crucial elements of the input. The investigation has discovered that personal qualities such as professional skepticism, expertise knowledge and the specialize skill of the auditor are critical aspects contributing to the quality of auditors’ judgement and audit quality.
The audit process as part of the input under the Framework has been studied mostly by evaluating auditors’ judgement when assessing risks, audit production and assessment of audit evidence.
Perceptions of audit quality differ between stakeholders relying on their degree of immediate participation in audit and on the channels through which they judge audit quality (refer Appendices, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4).
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Auditor Quality
2. The History and Nature of Auditor Quality
Auditing has emerged through a few phases. In the mid of 18th century to early 19th century, the audit exercise was regarded as “traditional fair and justness role of auditing”. Though, the auditors have been performing an
“enhancing role” for over 30 years.
Nowadays, auditors are required not merely to improve the reliability of the financial report, but to render value added service as well. In spite of that, following broad reform