The optimal pattern of interactions between auditors and Clients in gathering evidence

Subject Areas : Financial and Behavioral Researches in Accounting

Aboalfazl Radsaeed ¹ (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Accounting, Center Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.)
Negar Khosravi Pour ² (Assistant Prof. Accounting Department, Azad University Center Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran)
Ali Esmaeilzadeh Magharri ³ (Association Prof. Accounting Department. Azad University Center Tehran Branch. Tehran, Iran)

Received: 2023-08-06 Accepted : 2023-09-17 Published : 2023-08-23

Keywords: client, Auditor staff interaction with the client, Audit staff, Audit,

Abstract :

Accounting regulations are based on the assumption that auditees respond to and cooperate with auditors' requests to gather audit evidence. Audit staff often work long hours under time and budget constraints relative to the client and its clients with whom they interact during the audit evidence gathering process, and are typically cultured to focus on the company's business interests rather than professional obligations. Based on this, the aim of the current research is to develop an optimal pattern of interactions between the auditor's staff and the client in gathering evidence. In this research, a semi-structured interview with experts was used to identify the factors, and finally, a questionnaire tool was used to validate and rank these factors. The findings showed that 1. auditors' familiarity with the software used in preparing financial reports; 2. reducing the anxiety of auditor clients; 3. Auditor staff records; 4. Clear explanation of the issues for the clients’ personnel by the audit team's staff; 5. Timely presentation of documents and documents by the client to the auditor respectively have more priority as effective factors in improving the interaction of the audit staff with the owners. The relationship between auditor staff and client is very complicated due to the number of stakeholders and people involved. However, since this complexity lies at the core of the audit process, more research is needed on the auditor-client interaction. The findings of this research can help solve the complexities of the interaction between the auditor's staff and the client.