Is it all in the Mind(fulness)? An Exploratory Study Assessing the Impact of Mindfulness on Professional Skepticism

Motivated by regulator concerns that auditors do not always demonstrate sufficient professional skepticism (hereafter skepticism); we consider whether a brief mindfulness intervention can assist. Research has demonstrated that mindfulness interventions help people focus on tasks in a range of settings. We draw on this research to predict, and find, that when novice auditors undertake a mindfulness intervention, they demonstrate greater skepticism than other novice auditors. This exploratory study provides preliminary evidence on an accessible intervention that can encourage greater skepticism.

Opportunistic Avoidance of Litigation Loss Accruals and the Mitigating Effects of Auditors

We find that firms with preliminary earnings that are expected to just meet analyst forecasts are more likely to only disclose (i.e., not accrue) litigation loss contingencies, claiming that the litigation event falls below the qualitative thresholds necessitating accrual. We also find that this opportunistic treatment of a subjective estimate is reduced when firms’ auditors have expertise in the defendant’s industry or have experience auditing litigation contingencies. Furthermore, we find that opportunistic disclosure usage increases when firms are more economically important to auditors’ client portfolios. Our results are robust to a series of additional tests. We provide evidence to support the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) call for increased auditor professional skepticism toward management bias and opportunism when evaluating subjective estimates.

Pengaruh Pengetahuan, Pengalaman, Skeptisme Profesional, Dan Intuisi APIP Dalam Mendeteksi Kecurangan Pada Inspektorat Provinsi NTB

This study aims to analyze the effect of knowledge, experience, professional skepticism, and intuition of government internal supervisors in detecting fraud at the NTB Provincial Inspectorate. Respondents from this study as many as 49 people who have functional positions. The technique of collecting data is by using a questionnaire and collecting data by using the census method. The data analysis technique used multiple regression analysis. The results showed that professional experience and skepticism had a significant positive effect on Fraud Detection. Meanwhile, knowledge and intuition have a negative effect on Fraud Detection. The theoretical implication of this research is to strengthen the results of previous studies that knowledge, experience, professional skepticism and intuition have an influence on fraud detection. The practical implications of this research are useful as a means to provide information or references for auditors, especially those who have an auditor's functional position. Meanwhile, the implications of research policies can be used as benchmarks and evaluations related to fraud detection in improving the quality and performance of auditors as government internal supervisors. Keywords : Knowledge; Experience; Profesionalisme Skepticism; Intuition; Fraud Detection.

Effects of Professional Skepticism, Competency and Workload Compression on the Ability to Detect Possible Fraud among Government Auditors

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of professional scepticism, competence, and workload compression on an auditor's ability to detect potential fraud. This sample consisted of 149 government auditors from the Indonesian Local Government Inspectorate. Data was gathered through the use of a questionnaire and analysed using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The findings revealed that internal attribution (professional scepticism and competency) have a significant impact on an auditor's ability to detect the possibility of fraud. Workload compression as an external attribution, did not have a meaningful influence on an auditor's ability to detect probable fraud. Workload reduction was also found to be ineffective in moderating the relationship between internal attribution and an auditor's ability to detect probable fraud. The findings can guide local governments in developing policies aimed at enhancing the role of government auditors in detecting fraud. Keywords: government auditors, professional skepticism, attribution, workload compression

Efek Burnout PAda Skeptisme Profesional Auditor Internal Pemerintah

This study analyzes the offect of burnout on the profesional skeptism of internal auditors. this study uses a survey method by colecting data through reseach insruments (questinares), the respondents of this study were 35 government internal auditors (Inspectorate of Southeast Sulawesi Province), The Results of the Regession analysis show tahi auditors in burout conditions influence profesional skepticism This study confirmas the validaty of cognitive dissounant theory in explaining the effects of burnout on the professional skepticism of internal auditors. dissounant auditors tend to do something to avoid it by making the most appropriate audit decisions. individuals who experince dissonance will encourage an atmosphere of discomfort/stress. auditors who experince discomfort/stress will reduce their professional ekepricism

The combined effect of perspective-taking and incentives on professional skepticism

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the combined effect of two interventions, perspective taking and incentives, on auditors’ professional skepticism (hereafter skepticism) when auditing complex estimates. Specifically, this paper examines the different ways that perspective taking (management versus inspector) and incentives (absent versus reward versus penalty) combine to impact skepticism. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses an experiment with 177 experienced Big 4 auditors. The experiment used a 2 (management vs inspector perspective) × 3 (absent vs reward vs penalty incentives) between-subjects design. Findings In the absence of incentives, adopting a management perspective raises situational skepticism when measuring skepticism as appropriateness of management’s fair value estimate while adopting an inspector perspective raises situational skepticism when measuring skepticism as need for more evidence. The authors find some evidence that incentives complement perspective-taking by enhancing those aspects of skepticism for which perspective-taking performs poorly. When assessing management assumptions, auditors adopting an inspector perspective enhance their skepticism more substantially than those adopting a management perspective, and this enhancement is greater with rewards than with penalties. However, this study does not detect an interaction between incentive type and perspective-taking on auditor skepticism in relation to gathering additional evidence. Originality/value This paper extends the literature by shifting the focus from a single perspective to a comparison of two perspective-taking approaches and discusses how each of these approaches enhances different aspects of skepticism. This paper also illustrates the importance of the interplay between perspective-taking and incentives in enhancing auditor skepticism.

Efek Burout PAda Skeptisme Profesional Auditor Internal Pemerintah

This study analyzes the offect of burnout on the profesional skeptism of internal auditors. this study uses a survey method by colecting data through reseach insruments (questinares), the respondents of this study were 35 government internal auditors (Inspectorate of Southeast Sulawesi Province), The Results of the Regession analysis show tahi auditors in burout conditions influence profesional skepticism This study confirmas the validaty of cognitive dissounant theory in explaining the effects of burnout on the professional skepticism of internal auditors. dissounant auditors tend to do something to avoid it by making the most appropriate audit decisions. individuals who experince dissonance will encourage an atmosphere of discomfort/stress. auditors who experince discomfort/stress will reduce their professional ekepricism.

Independensi, Pengalaman Kerja Auditor, dan Kualitas Audit Dengan Skeptisisme Profesional Sebagai Variabel Moderasi

The motivation of this study is to examine and provide evidence regarding the interaction of the independent variable (X1) and auditor's work experience (X2) with the audit quality variable (Y) and the interaction of the professional skepticism variable (Z) as a moderator variable in strengthening the interaction of X1 and X2 with variables Y. The research is focused on active Public Accountants (partner auditors) who are licensed and registered with IAPI. The results of distributing questionnaires to Public Accountants obtained 309 questionnaire sample data. The Slovin technique was used in the data collection technique, while the data analysis used the SEM PLS (Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Square) method. This study provides evidence that 1) auditor independence has a positive effect on audit quality, 2) auditor's work experience has a positive effect on audit quality, 3) auditor's professional skepticism has an effect on strengthening the relationship between auditor independence and audit quality, and 4) auditor's professional skepticism has an effect on strengthen the relationship between auditor work experience and audit quality. Keywords: Audit Quality, Independence, Work Experience, and Professional Skepticism