The Impact of Blockchain Technology on Accounting and Auditing Functions: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of adopting blockchain technology on Saudi organizations’ accounting and auditing functions to provide a deep understanding of its benefits and determine the level of awareness of this technology. The study surveyed all theories of adopting Blockchain, such as agency, information, institutional, and network theories. All of these theories confirmed the ability of blockchain technology to minimize costs through transparency, trust, information dissemination, eliminating transaction costs, and smart contracts. The study used the structured questionnaire’s primary data and the Alpha Cronbach test to validate the questionnaire’s reliability. Using the least square regression models to test the study’s hypotheses, the results confirmed that blockchain technology positively and moderately affected the accounting functions, as the adjusted R square recorded 47.9 %. In addition, the results provided reasonable evidence that blockchain technology positively affected auditing functions as the adjusted R square- recorded 60.1 %. The study also confirmed that blockchain technology could significantly enhance Saudi organizations’ efficiency, accuracy, and security of financial transactions. In addition, the study confirmed that blockchain technology is a valuable tool for real-time data management and risk reduction, potentially changing the way accounting and auditing work in the future. The study made incremental contributions to the current literature as it confirmed the positive role of blockchain technology in enhancing the quality of accounting and auditing functions. However, applying that technology in Saudi organizations is still early. However, the study provided insightful findings to several stakeholders, including regulators, practitioners, and academics.