ELECTRONIC AUDIT AND ITS ROLE IN IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF EXTERNAL AUDIT

Received: 13.06.2021; Revised: 22.07.2021, Accepted: 15.09.2021, Published Online: 30.09.2021

Alaa Fareed Abdulahad

Professor of accounting, Management Technical College, Southern Technical University, Basra, Iraq, alaabotto@stu.edu.iq

Murtada Muhammed Bandar

MSc. Student, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Southern technical University, Basra, Iraq. murtadha.bandar@stu.edu.iq

Abstract

The use of electronic audit programs in the audit process is a turning point from the traditional audit represented by its reliance on the human element (the external auditor) and it’s carrying out all audit work from planning to issuing the accounts report, to the audit adopted in the implementation of audit work on the computer and significantly if compared with traditional auditing. The matter went beyond affecting the change by the auditor on the procedures followed under the two types of audits. The use of audit programs depends on the speed and accuracy of completing operations with minimal effort, in addition to the possibility of testing the data as large as possible. One of the most important problems that occur in the use of audit programs are the risks related to the programs and the associated databases that may expose the data to loss or damage. The research aims at the possibility of using electronic audit programs in the work of the external auditor in the bodies of the Office of Financial Supervision and private offices and its role in improving the quality of the external audit. The researchers tested the possibility of using the electronic audit program Smart Audit by external auditors in the research sample represented by the accounts of the Southern Technical University Fund. It was found through the survey results that there is a possibility to use these programs in the audit process. In addition, the research achieves the contribution of electronic auditing to improving the quality of external auditing, which shows through the results that there is a positive indication that electronic auditing contributes to improving the quality of external auditing. In addition, the researchers recommended the necessity of scientific and practical qualification of cadres working in the field of external auditing, through their participation in training courses.

Keywords: Electronic Audit, External Audit, Electronic Systems, Basra