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Skills audits represent an important vehicle for analysing and monitoring skills coverage across organisations and nations and identifying skills gaps and mismatches that exist. In so doing, they provide valuable data on the competitive positioning of organisations and nations and help determine priorities for investment. The purpose of this paper is to examine the use and prevalence of skills audits to improve individual, organisational and societal outcomes.

Following the guidance of Torraco (2016), this paper takes the form of an integrative literature review. The authors conducted a series of keyword searches using databases such as Google Scholar, ABI Inform, Science Direct and Emerald. Title word searches used the terms: “skills audit”, “skills analysis”, “skills inventory”, “skills mapping” and the authors reviewed articles that were published between the period: 1990 to 2020.

Skills audits remain a useful tool to assess skill attainment and progression on university and college programmes, giving individuals a better understanding of their particular strengths and allowing them to develop realistic career plans and goals. From an organisational perspective, skill audits add value where they are strategically linked to job design, recruitment and training initiatives. They are also useful in helping organisations identify skill shortages, particularly if they relate skills outages to future growth areas. Finally, skills audits can sustain career counselling, but need to remain flexible in categorising skills in relation to the gig economy and remote working.

The topic of skills audits remains an under-researched topic in the training and human resource development literature. To date, limited studies have been carried out examining their use and effectiveness. This paper sheds light on a topic worthy of exploration in the field.

The protection of public assets, fighting corruption and providing accountability for government agencies is necessary for public welfare, and it is possible to achieve this by quality auditing of the public sector. Since audit quality depends on the competencies of the auditor, this chapter focusses on the competencies of the public auditor and how these competencies are expected to evolve in the future with the development of technology. The chapter concentrates on the most sought-after skills for today’s public auditors by analysing the employment criteria in the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey. Even though the SAIs of these countries/regions are quite different, it is possible to find common ground. The SAIs of these countries, in general, require public auditors to have an undergraduate degree and require the candidates to pass extensive tests on reasoning abilities.

Moreover, the author investigates the requirements for public auditor competency in the public auditing standards followed by these countries. In addition to this, the author discusses the future expectations from public auditors and the new skills these will need. Past skills include technical knowledge, prior experience, hierarchical order in audit teams, professional scepticism, reasoning abilities and reporting skills. Advancements in technology such as Artificial Intelligence and Industry 4.0 will require auditors to have technological knowledge, emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, project management skills, critical thinking and strong communication skills. Furthermore, understanding the business and related risks will overshadow prior experience.

This study aims to identify the effect of soft skills as a driver of audit quality and their moderating role in the relationship between stress and the propensity for auditors to engage in reduced audit quality practices (RAQP).

This study uses a sample of 130 auditors, whose data were collected through an electronic questionnaire. The results were derived from the partial least squares-structural equation modelling method.

The findings show that the propensity to incur RAQP increases when auditors are under job stressors but decreases when individuals have resilience and time management skills. Moreover, the results suggest that the moderating effect of these two soft skills can effectively reduce the auditors’ propensity to engage in dysfunctional actions and judgments in auditing. Emotional intelligence and self-efficacy skills are shown not to affect RAQP.

This study adds to previous research on auditors’ drivers for supplying audit quality, by providing evidence of auditor characteristics as a critical input to audit quality. The results emphasize the importance of researchers including in models the moderating effect of soft skills on the relationship between audit quality and determinants associated with audit firms, clients or the regulatory framework.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the auditors’ and accounting educators’ perceptions of accounting education gaps and their impact on audit quality in Egypt.

Data were collected using a survey of auditors and accounting educators in Egypt.

The findings indicate a significant negative relationship between deficiencies in specific skills – namely, decision making, information technology, critical thinking, legal knowledge, problem-solving skills, ethical behavior, ambiguity tolerance, presentation skills, written communication, and cost and managerial accounting skills – and audit quality.

The results provide an auditing professionals’ market perspective of the development of students’ skills in the Egyptian higher education system. Specifically, this research provides insights into what skills auditing firms look for and how much these skills differ from those currently developed by public business schools in Egypt.

The results help auditing firms that want to work in the Egyptian market to identify the training needs for entry-level positions. Specifically, accounting graduates from public schools will need training in critical thinking skills, information technology, and writing and communication skills.

This study extends the accounting literature on the relationship between attributes of accounting graduates and audit quality by examining the impact of accounting graduates’ skills development and audit quality in Egypt.

The purpose of the study is to identify the perceived lack of certain core knowledge, skills and attributes in external quality auditors (EQAs) that contributes to an audit process that does not add value for client organizations. This paper describes the development of a competency requirement framework for quality management system (QMS) EQAs that would improve their capability and audit performance.

A review of relevant international literature on auditor competence and education, clients' expectations on external auditors, explicit and implicit expectations based on ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 19011:2018, and current auditor capability was conducted to obtain insights into the present situation and requirements of the environment. A survey questionnaire was then utilized in the collection of data from 19 heads of certification and technical reviewers of accredited certification bodies (CBs) in Malaysia. Univariate and bivariate analysis were used in analyzing the data from respondents.

The overall results show that the most important components of knowledge for EQAs to possess are quality management principles, system and standards; risk management; and business process and operations management. In terms of skills, the most important skills for auditors are auditing and report writing and critical/analytical thinking, followed by communication/interpersonal/people/ICT and team management. Attributes such as integrity, being ethical, professional and objective are found to be most important in EQAs to be effective and add value to the audits. Based on the results, the competency requirement framework of EQAs was developed.

This paper presents the knowledge, skills, attitudes and experience needed by EQAs identified by the CBs which is then developed into a competency requirements framework for future auditor training. The resulting framework from the study can be used by accreditation bodies, CBs and training organizations to evaluate and improve the auditors' competence and audit performance in the future.

The purpose of this study is to identify the competencies required of Shari’ah auditor (SAR) in the Islamic banking environment.

A qualitative approach using a multiple-case study through the semi-structured interview was used. Data was gathered from a representative of Central Bank of Malaysia, and 30 other respondents consist of the Head of Shari’ah audit (HSA) and SAR from four types of banking institutions. A focus group discussion was later conducted to validate the model of competency proposed.

Results show a mixed practice on the recruitment of SAR. Most banking institutions prefer to use their existing internal auditors as opposed to recruiting fresh graduates or acquire experienced SAR from other financial institutions. Knowledge in Shari’ah, Islamic banking and Fiqh Muamalat is considered as the essential knowledge component for SAR, while auditing is revealed as the core skill that SAR should have to perform the Shari’ah audit effectively. The study also found that personal skills such as willingness to learn and teamwork as the complementing characteristics to the knowledge and skill components, as a package required for a competent SAR.

The results of this study would have both theoretical and practical contributions to the regulatory bodies, academicians and professionals. Theoretically, this study made a concerted effort to enhance prior studies on the qualification aspect of Shari’ah audit literature, emphasizing the elements necessary to recruit competent SARs in the Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). The element of “time” has been infused to the existing effective job performance theory add dynamics to the model, recognizing the need for years of experience as part of elements necessary to become competent SAR. In practice, the competency model is recommended to the industry players in pooling competent talents in the Islamic finance industry (R4) and (B5). In spite of its limitation to confine only to the IFIs, it sheds light on human resource management within the Islamic organizations.

The study would contribute to the practitioners as a guideline to the Human Resource Department in recruiting their SAR and also for succession planning purposes.

A competency model for SAR was proposed focusing on building knowledge, core and personal skills that can be used as guidance in determining the criteria needed for a competent SAR, which is a new dimension for Islamic auditing literature. The sub-objective of determining the elements of competency, as well as understanding the current practice of recruiting the SAR became the input in the building of the competency model.

literature and research internationally indicate a lack of sufficient facilitation of soft skills development in entry-level internal auditors (internal audit graduates upon entering the workplace), although it is essential for entry-level internal auditors to be able to apply soft skills effectively. The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which these international views and findings on soft skills development are evident in South Africa according to practising internal auditors, students and facilitators. Comparisons are also drawn between the perceptions of practising internal auditors, students and facilitators.

Purposive sampling was used, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire and an interview survey with quantitative analysis.

In general, the results concur with the literature in terms of the lack of sufficient facilitation and the importance of soft skills development in entry-level internal auditors in South Africa for all three groups. Significant differences were also found between some of the perceptions of practising internal auditors, students and facilitators.

This study benefits internal audit employers, students and facilitators because soft skills are an in-demand graduate attribute and the application of alternative teaching–learning activities to develop students' soft skills also promotes deep learning through student engagement.

The identification of the 21 soft skills categories from the literature, which should be developed in entry-level internal auditors, has not been researched before as well as the perspectives of students and facilitators in South Africa on soft skills development.

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.

To provide internal auditors with a summary of the communications skills needed for a successful professional career in internal auditing.

A range of recently published (2000‐2004) publications, which aim to show the importance of communication skills to internal auditors, is reviewed to show internal auditors the importance of highly‐developed communication skills in almost every aspect of their activities.

Internal auditors need to possess excellent communication skills in order to succeed and advance in the changing, complex international global marketplace. Auditors utilize communication skills in almost every situation they encounter. Auditors must create an image of adding value to the organization and not just being investigators. Auditors must possess strong listening and interpersonal skills. Auditors have to be careful in using certain voice reflections when working with different types of individuals at various levels within an organization. Auditors must be aware of how their mannerisms impact auditees.

This paper identifies the importance of communication skills for internal auditors in their daily activities as professional auditors. Internal auditors will be more cognizant of the need to continually improve their communication skills throughout their professional career after reading this paper.

Changes in structure and conceptual underpinnings of ISO 9001 mean that quality management system (QMS) auditors require a wide knowledge base and skill set to effectively evaluate contemporary QMS and add value to the process. Hence, this study presents an open curriculum framework of the knowledge, skills and attributes for quality auditor education.

This study describes the first two phases of a three-phase study examining the educational requirements for external quality auditors (EQAs). Phase 1 involved a review of relevant international literature on auditor competence and education; Phase 2 involved the collection of qualitative data from a panel of experts, combined with the initial round of a Delphi study. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the findings from the questionnaire.

The findings of this study suggests there is a need to improve EQAs education, as most experts reported the quality of audit to be variable, inconsistent, poor and diminishing in value. The most important improvements to auditor education are to update and improve the auditors' knowledge on the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard and technology in business and skills such as report writing, communication, IT understanding and analytical ability. Some of the attributes reported as being desirable to instill in EQAs include the following: objectivity, integrity, ethics and professionalism; being observant, perceptive, articulate and confident; having good judgment; flexibility, adaptivity and diplomacy, fairness and open-mindedness.

This study highlights the need for wider EQA education based on the gap identified in its performance. The resulting framework can be adopted by accreditation and certification bodies to evaluate and improve their auditors' audit performance.