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In light of the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, electronic auditing otherwise known as computer-assisted audit tools and techniques (CAATTs) has become inevitable to automate the auditing process worldwide. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to examine the influence of technological, organizational and environmental (TOE) factors on public sector adoption of CAATTs in developing countries such as Jordan under the COVID-19 pandemic conditions.

This study used 136 usable responses from the managers of internal audit (IA) of the Jordanian public sector entities. The data collected were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling. The TOE framework has been used in this study to consider a wide set of TOE factors. Then, this study suggests a CAATTs adoption model that incorporates the related technology factors of the diffusion of innovation theory to environmental and organizational factors. Further, this study contributes to the TOE framework by addressing government regulations, audit bodies’ support and audit task complexity as environmental factors affecting CAATTs adoption in the context of the public sector.

The results revealed that for technological factors, only the compatibility affects CAATTs adoption by the IA departments. For organizational factors, organizational readiness, top management support, auditors’ information technology competency and entity size were found to be significant factors. From the environmental factors, both government regulation and audit task complexity influence the CAATTs adoption. Besides, entity size moderates the influence of top management support on the CAATTs adoption in the public sector.

The findings could highlight the significance of the CAATTs adoption in the public sector institutions (by internal auditors) post-COVID-19, taking into consideration the TOE framework’s factors. Also, the findings are significant for the decision-makers and regulators in declaring new legislation for the electronic IA profession in the Jordanian public sector.

It turns out that the CAATTs adoption in the public sector can definitely enhance their ability to achieve the role of IA in preserving public funds and restricting corrupt practices within the public sector.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies that address the professional audit agency support and audit task complexity as environmental factors, as well as the entity size as an organizational factor, that affect CAATTs adoption in the IA department of the public sector.

The use of computer-assisted audit techniques and tools (CAATTs) is a part of many professionally recommended audit procedures. This paper aims to argue that obtaining a better understanding of the factors underlying successful CAATTs adoptions would be helpful to aid wider development of these technologies in internal audit functions.

To help develop the understanding of the factors that lead to successful adoption of GAS, this paper uses current theories that are seeking to better explain the various elements that constitute IT adoption processes. In particular, it makes use the “Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology” (UTAUT). UTAUT is used to structure the analysis of ten semi-structured, qualitative, interviews of key decision-makers in adoptions of CAATTS in internal audit functions in exploring the key factors that drove the successful adoption of these IT technologies. The most widely used CAATTs tools available to internal auditors is currently GAS. This study specifically focuses on GAS tools.

This paper explores the successful adoption of GAS in ten cases to draw out the general factors that appear to be essential elements that lead to successful adoptions. From this basis, the paper proposes an initial model, built on existing theories of IT adoption more generally, as a theoretical basis for GAS adoption by decision-makers in an internal audit setting to better understand what may be essential factors to their adoption decisions to be likewise successful. Results suggest that two constructs from UTAUT (performance expectancy and facilitating conditions) appear to be particularly important factors influencing successful adoptions of GAS in this domain. However, the UTAUT constructs of social influence and effort expectancy are not found by this study to be as important in this specific IT adoption domain. UTAUT also proposes four moderating factors that influence the constructs. This paper explores two of these moderators – experience and voluntariness – and shows that both are keys to the constructs application to this domain.

The paper examines the motivation for CAATTs adoption by internal auditors using the UTAUT framework commonly used in information system research but not so to date in this domain where there is professional guidance suggesting wider use of technology should be made compared to actual usage.

Generalized audit software (GAS) is the tool use by auditors to automate various audit tasks. As most accounting transactions are now computerized, auditing of accounting data is also expected to be computerized as well. While GAS is the most popular of computer assisted audit tools and techniques (CAATTs), research shows that there is little evidence that GAS has been universally adopted by external auditors. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the utilization of GAS by external auditors in the UK. The paper focuses on small and medium‐sized audit firms in the UK whereas most other GAS studies have examined “Big 4” firms. Registered statutory auditors have been selected as a sample.

A framework was developed to identify a range of relevant factors which are important when considering the application of GAS. A web‐based survey has been used to gather the perceptions based on the responses from 205 statutory auditors across the UK. The questions posed to respondents were mapped against the framework.

The research finds that the utilization of GAS is unusually low among audit firms in the UK. About 73 per cent of external auditors make no use of GAS, due to the perceived limited benefit of using GAS for auditing small clients. While some respondents recognized the advantages of GAS, they were put off by what they believed to be high implementation costs; significant learning curve and adoption process; and lack of ease of use – they showed a preference for using traditional manual auditing methods instead.

The paper focuses on small and medium‐sized auditors, and as such the results cannot be extrapolated to Big 4 auditors. Consequently, the responses and conclusions are relevant to the use of GAS during audits of smaller and medium‐sized companies which make up the client base of such audit firms.

This is one of the few studies that have sought to research the utilization of GAS by the external auditor.

This paper aims to investigate the role of forensic accounting skills in enhancing auditor’s self-efficacy towards fraud detection in Egypt. Additionally, it explores the moderating effect of computer-assisted audit techniques and tools (CAATTs) application on the relationship between accounting and auditing skills and auditor’s self-efficacy, as well as its role in enhancing fraud detection.

A cross-sectional survey was developed and distributed to 117 external auditors working in Egypt. Partial least square structural equation modelling is used to examine the study hypotheses.

The results show a significant direct relationship between effective communication skills, psycho-social skills, accounting and auditing skills and an auditor’s self-efficacy. Additionally, the results show a significant direct relationship between auditor’s self-efficacy and fraud detection. It is revealed that CAATTs application moderate the relationship between auditor’s self-efficacy and fraud detection. In contrast, the results do not show a significant relationship between technical and analytical skills and auditor’s self-efficacy.

The originality of this research paper lies in its exploration of the role of forensic accounting skills in enhancing auditor’s self-efficacy towards fraud detection in Egypt. It sheds light on the role of improved auditor’s self-efficacy in detecting fraud. Additionally, this study further enhances the understanding of the potential benefits of using technological advancements in the audit process. It provides insights for accounting professionals and regulatory bodies in Egypt, highlighting the importance of leveraging forensic accounting skills and using CAATTs to enhance fraud detection efforts.

With the advancement in information technology, many companies have become heavily dependent on computer‐assisted systems, and implemented various computer‐based business activities and document system, among which computer‐assisted auditing tools and techniques (CAATTs) is an important choice. CAATTs can assist auditors in conducting control and confirmation tests, analysis and verification of financial statement data, and continuous monitoring and auditing. When constructing computer‐assisted auditing systems, enterprises must take many factors into consideration to determine whether to develop the software or purchase professional software packages. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to construct an auditing software assessment model.

This study first conducted a focus group interview to determine the auditing software criteria and decision‐making factors, and then identified the main decision‐making factors. Finally, analytic network process was employed to evaluate the weights of the criteria and decision‐making factors in order to construct an auditing software decision‐making model upon both objective and subjective factors.

The most important auditing software criterion is the system functions, followed by data processing, and technical support and service provided by the software company. The most important factor of auditing software is cost and system stability, followed by data processing accuracy, technical support, and purchase cost.

The main contribution of this paper is the construction of an auditing software assessment model, which can be applied to other decision‐making topics. Moreover, this study applies the model on audit command language, interactive data extraction and analysis, and Focaudit as examples. In addition to determining project priority sequences, the advantages and disadvantages of the model are presented in order to provide references to businesses on decision making regarding software purchases.

The purpose of this paper is to explore: the actual usage of generalized audit software (GAS) features among Egyptian external auditors, through the technology acceptance model (TAM); how the conceptual complexity of GAS features impact its actual usage; and what factors influencing the GAS use by Egyptian external auditors.

External audit professionals at 12 international audit firms, including the Big 4 and eight medium-sized firms, in Egypt were surveyed.

The results show that the basic features including database queries, ratio analysis, and audit sampling were higher in GAS use, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use among Egyptian external auditors than the advanced features: digital analysis, regression/ANOVA, and data mining classification. The structural equation modelling analysis by GAS features suggests that perceived ease of use has a stronger effect on GAS use when the conceptual complexity of GAS features is high. The analysis also support that the use of GAS by Egyptian external auditors is more affected by co-worker, supervisor, or organization through perceived usefulness, but not by job relevance, output quality, and result demonstration.

Although Egyptian external auditors participated in this study may limit the extent to which the findings may be generalized, the responses provide an insight into the actual usage of GAS features by external auditors and the impact of conceptual complexity of GAS features, which is consistent with the literature concerning the relatively low level of utilizing the advanced features of GAS by internal auditors, suggesting that the issues revealed should be of concern.

The results reported in this paper are useful to audit software developers and audit firms in their understanding of factors influencing GAS usage in a different audit context.

The study adds value to prior research by providing context-contingent insight into the application of TAM in an unexplored audit context.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of emerging technology (technology adoption, perceived benefits, technological challenges and ease of use) and the auditing practice of accounting professionals.

The primary method of data collection was a questionnaire directed to newly practicing chartered accountants who are partners of sole proprietorship or partnership firms in India. The data were analyzed by using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The findings revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between characteristics of emerging technology (technology adoption, technological challenges and ease of use) and auditing practice, while factors of the perceived benefits had a negative relationship with auditing practice.

The study model would aid technology enabled audit research by giving a platform for a new study to investigate further detailed solutions to emerging information technology determinants.

This study illustrates how tools technique perceived benefit motivates sole proprietorship practicing auditors to adopt emerging technology- enabled auditing software for auditing client's financial statements. Further, this study has added to the information technology auditing literature and might add benefits to the numerous other audit firms to adopt in emerging technology tools their audit firm.

Audit firms, generally sole proprietorship and partnership firms, should be given enough awareness about the latest audit software tools to carry out their audit tasks efficiently.

The study findings highlight benefits of emerging technology-enabled auditing practice among owners/partners of the sole proprietorship or partnership firms, which is not extensively discussed in the prior studies. Furthermore, it broadens knowledge of perceived benefit, technological challenges and ease of use in technology-enabled audit software in the auditing and accounting literature.

This study aims to investigate the factors associated with the intention to use information technology in audit (ITIA) in Iraq.

The study uses a quantitative approach based on a questionnaire survey of 186 respondents. The study population includes respondents who are board members, senior executives, internal auditors and information technology (IT) assistants in various Iraqi organizations from different sectors. Structural equation modeling has been used to estimate the results.

The findings exhibit that most auditors in Iraq use basic IT software. However, among several specialized and advanced IT audit software packages, only generalized audit software is used by about 20%. The results also indicate that social factors significantly and positively impact auditors’ and practitioners’ perceptions of ITIA use. Moreover, the results reveal that companies and auditors who use or audit complex accounting systems perceive higher benefits and intent to adopt ITIA. However, the results report that organizational support, professional support, competency and IT education have an insignificant effect on ITIA adoption.

The originality of the present research lies in several aspects. First, the research study focuses specifically on Iraq, which is an emerging and less developed country influenced by social and economic. This research context provides a unique perspective and contributes to the understanding of ITIA adoption in less developed countries. The study investigates how external factors, including social and external pressure and the support of government professional bodies, affect the adoption of ITIA. Further, it assesses the influence of firms’ specific factors such as management support, level of competency and complexity of accounting information systems. Second, the study uses a quantitative approach with a questionnaire survey from various Iraqi organizations and sectors. The specific sample composition adds originality by capturing insights from different levels of organizational hierarchy and diverse professional backgrounds. Third, the findings shed light on the current IT usage in auditing practices in Iraq, highlighting that most auditors use basic IT software and the limited adoption of specialized IT audit software packages. Finally, the study’s originality is also reflected in its contribution to expanding knowledge on the perceived benefits and challenges associated with ITIA adoption in less developed countries. By emphasizing the need for broader awareness of emerging technology-enabled auditing software and considering the unique characteristics of less developed countries, the research provides valuable insights and implications for practitioners, policymakers and researchers.