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This study aims to examine the roles of perceived organisational support (POS), attitude and self-efficacy in understanding the external whistleblowing intentions among senior auditors through the lens of stimulus–organism–response theory.

This study uses data from 119 senior auditors in audit firms in Malaysia. POS is predicted to be a stimulus factor from the external environment that affects the attitude and self-efficacy (organism) of the auditors and reassures them to act to whistleblow (response).

POS has a significant impact on self-efficacy and on attitude. Self-efficacy is shown as a significant mediator between POS and external whistleblowing intentions, but there is no statistical support for self-efficacy having a mediating effect on the relationship between the attitude of senior auditors and external whistleblowing intentions.

The findings can assist accounting professional bodies in understanding the psychological behaviours of auditors that contribute to their intention to shine a light on wrongdoing in audit firms and in providing a better insight into the critical factors that could influence auditors to whistleblow.

This study is among the earliest to investigate the application of stimulus–organism–response theory in whistleblowing, and hence it illustrates how the theory can be applied in studies on the ethical behaviours of actors in professional careers. The findings shed light on the role of self-efficacy as a significant mediator between POS and external whistleblowing intentions.

The objective of this study is to examine the effects of superior preference and information source on staff auditor reporting decisions in the presence of time deadline pressure (TDP).

A total of 67 graduate and upper‐level undergraduate accounting students, serving as proxies for staff auditors, participated in a between‐subjects experiment.

The majority of participants reported information concerning a subjective materiality issue regardless of senior preference, information source, and TDP. The results suggest that staff auditors are motivated both by desires to avoid responsibility for decisions concerning subjective audit issues and by concerns about audit quality.

This study extends prior research that has examined senior and manager reactions to manager and partner preferences by investigating staff auditor reactions to senior preferences.

A recent change to audit workpaper review has been the movement toward delegating more review tasks to senior auditors and including more staff auditors in the review process. This study investigates the efficiency and effectiveness implications of this change. It considers the calibration of reviewers of different levels of experience on both conceptual and mechanical errors. The results reveal that reviewers are miscalibrated (overconfident) in their workpaper error judgments. No differences are found in the calibration of staff and senior auditors across hierarchical level or type of error. The implications for audit effectiveness are discussed in the paper.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct relationship between internal auditor’s characteristics[1] and internal audit effectiveness[2], and the moderating effect of senior management[3] support.

Standard multiple regression and moderated multiple regression are applied, and the data were collected from 114 members of Libyan Association of Accountants and Auditors[4] by using personally administered questionnaire.

The findings reveal that internal auditor’s characteristics have a significant impact on internal audit effectiveness, and senior management support has a moderating effect.

The findings would encourage Libyan organizations to concentrate on the issue of internal audit effectiveness, and will strengthen the capacity of internal auditing in public organizations.

This paper contributes to the literature of both internal audit and management studies and represents the first effort to examine the impact of internal auditor’s characteristics on internal audit effectiveness with senior management support as a moderating variable.

This study examines the influence of firm management’s ethical “tone at the top” (tone) and the working relationship of an auditor with his/her supervisor (senior) on the auditor’s propensity to engage in an unethical, dysfunctional auditor behavior (DAB). Findings indicate that environmental factors influence the staff auditor’s decision of whether or not to follow a course of action suggested by the supervisor that is contrary to both the audit program and generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). Specifically, auditors are influenced by the tone that the partner sets for the firm and by the working relationship that the staff auditor has with the supervising senior auditor. The results of this research have ramifications for the auditing profession, as they identify specific factors outside of auditing standards and beyond an auditor’s moral reasoning capabilities that can influence the acceptance of unethical, dysfunctional behavior.

Prior research suggests that perceived levels of a subordinate auditor’s competence affects audit reviewers’ judgments. We extend this line of research by investigating the effects of perceived client competence (hereafter, ClientComp) and its interaction with subordinate auditor’s competence (hereafter, AuditorComp) on audit reviewers’ judgments. Using data from highly experienced CPA audit managers, senior managers, and partners, we find a significant main effect for AuditorComp, but not for ClientComp. We also find that when AuditorComp is high, levels of ClientComp do not affect audit reviewers’ judgments. However, we cannot support the hypothesis that when AuditorComp is low ClientComp will significantly affect audit reviewers’ judgments. These mixed results suggest that in the post-SOX (2002) era regulatory environment, audit reviewers may be exercising heightened professional skepticism about ClientComp whenever they consider clients’ assertions.

In an effort to develop an audit quality (AQ) framework specific to the US audit market, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) recently issued a concept release proposing 28 audit quality indicators (AQIs) along three dimensions: audit professionals, audit process and audit results. Using AQIs initially proposed by the PCAOB, as well as AQIs suggested by prior literature, the authors solicit perceptions from junior-level (senior and staff) auditors to investigate the current state of practice along many of the AQIs relating to audit professionals and audit process.

In the study, 78 junior-level auditors responded to the survey.

An analysis of the responses suggests auditors engage in activities and audit firms promote conditions that at times improve, and at other times, reduce audit quality. The authors find that individual auditors’ perceptions differ across experience level, gender and audit firm size for certain AQIs.

The study is useful to the PCAOB because it provides insights to help assess the value of potential AQIs in differentiating AQ. The study is also useful to other regulators because it describes audit staff and seniors’ perceptions of apparent firm and auditor compliance with accounting and auditing standards. Practitioners should find this information useful in helping to identify possible root causes of audit deficiencies, a challenge put forth to firms by the PCAOB.

This study provides academia with evidence on AQ from practicing auditors, which informs existing and future research along. The study complements existing work by showing how individual auditor characteristics (experience and gender) at the junior levels may impact AQ in practice

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relationship between internal audit functions (IAF) and financial reporting quality (FRQ) and whether such a relationship is moderated by senior management support (SMS) in listed companies in Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

This research is a cross-sectional study, using primary data in the form of a survey sent to 175 listed companies in NSE. A total of 149 questionnaires have been collected and analysed out of which 97 were found to be useful and used in the final analysis.

The findings indicate a positive and significant relationship between internal audit qualities of work performed, internal control activities, coordination between internal and external auditors and FRQ and this finding was also supported by SMS as a moderator. However, the results show a negative and insignificant relationship between internal audit competency, organisational status and FRQ.

The findings support the assumption with regard to agency theory. The board should support the IAF to serve as an effective monitoring mechanism in minimising opportunistic management actions. Regulators should also ensure adequate structures that will strengthen the organisational status of the internal auditors to perform towards improving FRQ.

The study contributes to the existing literature by assessing the effect of IAF on FRQ as moderated by SMS.

Describes the objectives herein as examining auditors’ ethical sensitivity to assess risk of fraud in financial reporting. Gives background literature as the opening section, and this is followed by a section in which the investigation method is described, study results are then discussed, followed by a summary and conclusions. Looks at case studies of bribery scandals, etc. and discusses ethics and auditing. Sums up that ethical scenarios examined herein, perhaps, contain external economies ‐ but not external diseconomies.

This study aims to examine the direct influence of workplace bullying (WB) on internal auditors’ independence using the nexus between the agency theory and social exchange theory. From the internal auditors’ perspective, the investigation covered both government and private colleges and universities in one of the Middle East countries.

A survey was administered and delivered to internal auditors at each of the 85 educational institutions. A total of 267 valid questionnaires were analysed. The study’s measurement and structural models were tested and evaluated by using SmartPLS v.4 and partial least squares-structural equation modelling.

The study results indicated that bullying is common among senior managers, and that it has a significant, negative, high-level and direct effect on the independence of internal auditors in the higher education sector.

Regulators and other stakeholders should make a deliberate effort to promote positive behaviours and abandon negative ones regarding the independence of internal auditors and the performance of audit teams, which play a crucial role in enhancing the efficiency of audit units. For example, enhancing coordination and communication internally and externally. In addition to providing the internal auditors with equitable advancement and learning opportunities, senior management should also support their professional development.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to examine the relationship between WB and the internal auditor’s independence in the context of government and private organisations in Southwest Asian countries.