Auditors’ perceptions of alternative performance measures–alternative truths and professional skepticism

Abstract

Alternative performance measures (APMs) may increase uncertainty and perceived risks concerning the audit, and rouse the auditor’s professional skepticism (PS), for example in case the APMs and official reporting diverge (e.g. one shows a profit and the other a loss). In this paper, using a survey of Finnish certified public auditors (N = 220), we study how auditors perceive relationships between audit work, PS, and APMs. When examining PS, we use both personal ‘trait skepticism’ and case-specific ‘state skepticism’. Our results show that state skepticism related to APMs can explain skeptical behavior and that it is a separate component from trait skepticism. Both state skepticism and considerations of the usefulness of APMs are helpful in assessing audit evidence and accounting figures. Further, we find that auditors hold various views of APMs and that ‘search for knowledge’ and ‘questioning mind’ are key dimensions of PS in coping with APMs.