引入大数据实现持续审计的路径与方法探析

本文首先介绍持续审计,对持续审计技术的实施现状及存在的技术问题进行分析,论述了持续审计引入大数据技术的必要性,对物联网、云计算、数据挖掘等数据技术引入审计,实现持续审计的路径和方法进行系统分析,以期为构建基于大数据的财务报表持续审计模型提供理论依据。     

论会计管理信息化的ISCA模型

本文总结和审视现代信息技术应用于会计工作的内涵和作用,根据目前我国信息化现状及未来可能的实践提出建立和实施会计管理信息化的ISCA(Information System,Control and Auditing)模型:首先是建立在企业管理信息系统环境中的会计信息系统,是一种事件驱动模式的系统,其核心是集成;同时,为了确保会计信息系统(AIS)安全有效地运作,必须建立健全的信息系统内部控制制度;并且,为了确保和审查内部控制制度的有效执行,必须开展对AIS及其内控制度的审计,以最终地达到对AIS安全、可靠、有效和高效地应用.三者的有机结合构成了AIS的ISCA模型。正确地实施ISCA模型,可实现企业的物流、业务流、资金流、信息流、控制过程和审计过程的整合和集成,使现代信息技术应用于会计管理工作并取得较好的效果。     

浅谈内部审计信息化

正一、内部审计信息化的概念内部审计信息化,即建立在信息化环境基础上,运用信息化技术方法开展内部审计工作。内部审计信息化包括审计信息管理和计算机审计两方面的内容,核心是计算机审计。内部审计信息化系统架构由应用系统、网络系统、人力资源系统、规范与标准系统、安全系统等组成。它将审计信息的开发、管理和使用、宏观经济动态、法律法规、审计对象、审计计划、审计项目管理等信息全部纳入到平台上,利用网络技术,了解并指导现场审计工作,实现科学管理。     

浅论会计信息化对传统审计的影响及对策

会计信息化是采用现代信息技术,对传统的会计模型进行重整,并在重整的现代会计基础上,建立信息技术与会计学科高度融合的、充分开放的现代会计信息系统.而信息化对审计的影响表现在如审计线索、审计准则和审计依据、审计内容、内部控制的改变、审计技术等方面.在应对这些影响时,应首先对被审计单位的信息化会计系统进行评审.其次,再制定合理的信息化会计审计程序.以求以较合理、完善的对策来应对会计信息化为审计带来的影响.这种会计信息系统将全面运用现代信息技术,通过网络系统,使业务处理高度自动化,信息高度共享,能够进行主动和实时报告会计信息.它不仅仅是信息技术运用于会计上的变革,它更代表的是一种与现代信息技术环境相适应的新的会计思想.     

现代审计风险模型分析探讨

现代审计风险模型是应用现代风险导向审计理论指导审计实务的工具。本文在分析该模型的逻辑结构和相关概念的基础上,结合案例讨论了如何使用现代审计风险模型进行审计。特别指出由于国内会计师事务所客户的次优级状况决定了现代审计风险模型对中国注册会计师具有重要的意义。     

商业银行信贷业务持续审计探析

外部监管机构对商业银行内部连续监控的需要和管理决策对信息实时性需求使持续审计（continuous auditing）成为信息时代的重要审计形式,本文通过阐述商业银行实施信贷业务持续审计的应用背景、现实意义、基本框架及尚待完善的几个方面进行简单介绍,希望能对我国银行业在信贷风险防控领域运用持续审计技术提供一些借鉴。     

基于大数据驱动范式的政策跟踪审计模型及其应用研究

政策跟踪审计在应用大数据的过程中,面临大数据效能受限、使能不足、技术相对滞后等问题,需要从一个整体框架加以系统研究。本文基于大数据驱动范式的政策跟踪审计模型以外部嵌入、技术增强、使能创新为基本框架,以面审计、点审计、审计结果利用为应用思路,旨在一体推进数据、分析技术、审计目标实现等方面问题的解决。该模型的应用研究以某省高新技术企业补助资金审计项目为例,运用大数据采集、Gephi网络可视化分析、疑点特征提取与计分等多项技术,能够促进既定审计目标的实现。提出扩大数据集合、采用有效技术、提炼经验模式等政策建议,拓展了审计理论模型和大数据审计相关研究,对推进政策跟踪审计实践具有一定借鉴意义。     

我国会计师事务所风险导向审计的应用现状及完善对策分析

现代风险导向审计模式是我国会计师事务所审计发展的必然趋势,虽然风险导向审计模式在国外已经有了很好的发展.但在我国由于受传统思想的影响、内部控制体系的不完善、缺乏风险管理意识、审计人员专业水平较低、信息化水平较低等原因,风险导向审计模式难以得到有效的发展.本文对风险导向审计在我国会计师事务所应用中存在的问题进行了深入的分析,并提出了相应的完善措施.     

现代风险导向审计成本问题研究

<正>审计模式的发展是使审计成本不断降低的审计技术方法的发展。在现代风险导向审计模式下,审计成本控制的特点、风险评估在成本控制中的作用、成本控制的着重点的确定、重要性水平的设定以及怎样进行风险测试等等问题需要我们更深入的研究。基于此,本文试图借鉴国内外新近研究成果,对现代风险导向审计成本问题的理论及其应用做一次比较系统而有意义的研究。     

基于风险基础战略系统的央行内部审计模式研究

风险基础战略系统审计模式是现代风险导向审计发展的最新阶段.文章结合人民银行风险管理实际,从总体思路、审计流程、固有风险的识别计算和评估、控制有效性评价、剩余风险计算构建了人民银行风险基础战略系统审计模型,并对其应用可行性从战略风险识别分析、关键业务环节风险识别分析、审计取得的效果进行了案例验证.文章认为该审计模型具有利于内部审计开展同级监督审计工作,能够将合规性审计、绩效审计、风险导向审计有机结合起来等优势.     

Design and evaluation of an advanced continuous data level auditing system: A three-layer structure

Audit efficiency and effectiveness can be significantly affected by data aggregation during audit procedures. Previous studies highlight that an appropriate level of data aggregation is needed because a continuous auditing (CA) system often generates numerous alarms. To respond to this issue, this study proposes a CA system with a three-layer structure. In the first layer of the proposed system, all journal entry level transactions are classified and aggregated using defined rules; any transactions that deviate from these rules are identified as unusual transactions. The second layer detects the observations that violate controls. Analytical monitoring models are developed in the final layer to identify observations that statistically deviate from an organization’s typical business behaviors. To examine whether the proposed three-layer CA system enhances the effectiveness of a CA system in identifying financial irregularities, this study empirically tests the proposed models using real-world journal entry data from a construction company. The results indicate that the proposed framework enhances audit effectiveness and efficiency.     

The acceptance and adoption of continuous auditing by internal auditors: A micro analysis

The umbrella of “advanced technology” covers a range of techniques widely used in the U.S. to provide strategic advantage in a very competitive business environment. There is an enormous amount of information contained within current-generation information systems, some of which is processed on a real-time basis. More importantly, the same holds true for actual business transactions. Having accurate and reliable information is vital and advantageous to businesses, especially in the wake of the recent recession. Therefore, the need for ongoing, timely assurance of information utilizing continuous auditing (CA) and continuous control monitoring (CM) methodologies is becoming more apparent. To that end, we have conducted interviews with 22 internal audit managers and 16 internal audit staff members at 9 leading internal audit organizations to examine the status of technology adoption, to evaluate the development of continuous auditing, and to assess the use of continuous control monitoring. We found that several companies in our study were already involved in some form of continuous auditing or control monitoring while others are attempting to adopt more advanced audit technologies. We also made a large number of surprising observations on managerial, technology training and absorption, and other issues. According to our audit maturity model, all of the companies were classified between the “traditional audit” stage and the “emerging stage,” not having yet reached the “continuous audit” stage. This paper,¹ to our knowledge, is the first to study CA technology adoption in a micro level by an interview approach.     

On the persistence and dynamics of Big 4 real audit fees: Evidence from the UK

Despite the huge audit pricing literature, there is a dearth of evidence on the temporal dynamics of audit fee adjustments and the persistence of audit fees. Based on a sample of 76,867 panel observations for a sample of UK companies audited by the Big 4 over the period 1998 to 2012, we employ consistent lagged dependent variable panel estimators to provide new evidence on the persistence and dynamics of real Big 4 audit fees. Contrary to extant research, which assumes that audit fees adjust immediately in a single period, our empirical results indicate that Big 4 real audit fees are persistent, being partly dependent on their previous realisations. We conclude that static audit fee models omit a potentially important temporal dimension of audit pricing behaviour and that further research is warranted into dynamic audit fee models across other jurisdictions.     

General theory of cost minimization strategies of continuous audit of databases

The minimization of cost is an important issue in the domain of continuous auditing (CA) research [Pathak Jagdish, Chaouch Ben, Sriram Ram, 2005. Minimizing cost of continuous audit: Counting and time dependent strategies. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 24(1), 61–75]. This cited study of continuous audit of databases motivated us to work further and provide a general, complete and precise solution. In the present study, we propose an efficient algorithm in terms of long term cost for counting and periodic strategies of continuous auditing as suggested by Pathak et al. study. The improved algorithms contribute to accounting literature in general and continuous audit in particular in the form of general theory proposed for minimizing the cost of CA of databases.     

关于农村审计性质的探讨

农村审计对于发展农村经济、巩固税费改革成果、减轻农民负担、加强社会主义新农村建设是十分必要的。但对于农村审计性质至今尚未形成统一的认识。农村审计不同于内部审计、政府审计和社会审计,农村审计应属于外部审计。     

Embedding process mining into financial statement audits

The audit of financial statements is a complex and highly specialized process. Digitalization and the increasing automation of transaction processing create new challenges for auditors who carry out those audits. New data analysis techniques offer the opportunity to improve the auditing of financial statements and to overcome the limitations of traditional audit procedures when faced with increasingly large amounts of financially relevant transactions that are processed automatically or semi-automatically by computer systems. This study discusses process mining as a novel data analysis technique which has been receiving increased attention in the audit practice. Process mining makes it possible to analyse business processes in an automated manner. This study investigates how process mining can be integrated into contemporary audits by reviewing the relevant audit standards and incorporating the results from a field study. It demonstrates the feasibility of embodying process mining within financial statement audits in accordance with contemporary audit standards and generally accepted audit practices. Implementation of process mining increases the reliability of the audit conclusions and improves the robustness of audit evidence by replacing manual audit procedures. Process mining as novel data mining technique provides auditors the means to keep pace with current technological developments and challenges.     

Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) in auditing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are gaining increasing attention regarding their potential applications in auditing. One major challenge of their adoption in auditing is the lack of explainability of their results. As AI/ML matures, so do techniques that can enhance the interpretability of AI, a.k.a., Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI). This paper introduces XAI techniques to auditing practitioners and researchers. We discuss how different XAI techniques can be used to meet the requirements of audit documentation and audit evidence standards. Furthermore, we demonstrate popular XAI techniques, especially Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations (LIME) and Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP), using an auditing task of assessing the risk of material misstatement. This paper contributes to accounting information systems research and practice by introducing XAI techniques to enhance the transparency and interpretability of AI applications applied to auditing tasks.     

The Provision of Non-audit Services and the Pricing of Audit Fees

There have been a number of studies examining audit fees and this research has covered various nations. Recent legislation in Norway requires a company to disclose information on the audit fee and the fees for non-audit services paid to its auditor. Using this data, models of audit fee structure are developed. As with other studies, the size of the company is a major determinant of the audit fee. Payments for non-audit services are positively and significantly associated with audit fees; this relationship is difficult to explain although it parallels some research in the United States. Overall, the models explain about 75 per cent of the variability in audit fees.     

Evidence on the Joint Determination of Audit and Non-Audit Fees

In this study we investigate whether the characteristics of clients, auditors, and the auditor‐client relationship simultaneously determine audit and non‐audit fees. As done in prior studies, we maintain that fees proxy for the level of service provided and follow the physical flow of knowledge. Estimating single‐equation models of audit and non‐audit fee models, we confirm prior findings of an association between audit and non‐audit fees. Studies conclude that such evidence is consistent with knowledge spillovers between the two services. However, we document empirically that audit and non‐audit fees are simultaneously determined. Because the data indicate audit and non‐audit fees are jointly determined, we then investigate whether previously documented associations between audit and non‐audit fees are the result of biased estimation induced by using endogenous variables in single‐equation models. In contrast to results from single‐equation estimations, we find no association between audit and non‐audit fees using a simultaneous specification of the fee system, suggesting that single‐equation estimations suffer from simultaneous‐equations bias. In sum, the findings are not consistent with the existence of economies of scope from the joint performance of audit and non‐audit services after controlling for the joint behavior of audit and non‐audit fees. Given the ongoing debate over the level of allowed non‐audit services by auditors, the argument for the joint provision of audit and non‐audit services is less justified than if joint‐supply benefits had been documented.     

A survey of models for determining optimal audit strategies

The problem studied in this survey is how to optimize the allocation of audit resources over an auditee population with respect to available population statistics. The auditees are assumed to optimize their expected utility based on information about the audit strategy. This survey is limited to models where the auditee can vary the fraud amount along a continuous scale.If the auditor is not able or willing to announce the audit strategy, a Nash equilibrium can be derived in which the auditor and auditee correctly anticipate each other's strategies. If the auditor announces the audit strategy in advance, the problem is formulated as a sequential game with perfect information which is solved as an optimization problem.Early models in the literature resulted in unrealistically high degrees of fraud. Later models have incorporated a split into one group of inherently honest auditees and another group of potentially dishonest auditees. The fraction of inherently honest auditees is exogenous.In this paper, the four combinations of non-announcing/pre-announcing the strategy and all potentially dishonest/some inherently honest auditees are studied. For the case of pre-announcing the strategy with some inherently honest auditees, two new solution methods are presented.Two main conclusions are as follows. First, models with some inherently honest auditees have greater external validity. Second, when a pre-announced strategy is feasible, as it often is with tax and benefit audits, the pre-announced strategy is preferred by the auditor over the non-announced strategy.