The Role of End-User Computing Support in Auditing

Abstract

Audit firms have made considerable investments in the information technology to improve auditors' productivity. Auditing is an ideal environment for end-user computing (EUC) because during an audit auditors collect vast amounts of data. The auditors analyze the data to form an opinion on the correctness of the financial statements. There have been many studies concerning the effects of decision aids on decision making. Some of them indicate that decision aids may enhance decision making while others report that decision aids may lead to poor quality decisions. Do the existing ways of providing user support apply to auditors or is there something that is unique or different with the auditors' need for EUC support? The auditing context has some special characteristics that may be analyzed to answer this question. One characteristic is the possibility of liability and damages if the auditors make errors. When these factors are combined with the results from judgment and decision making research in auditing, the conclusion is that there ought to be some differences in EUC support in audit firms compared to existing EUC support. The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model that illustrates how end-user computing, computerized decision aids, decision making, and judgment in auditing affect end-user computing support in auditing. Little is known about the auditors' perceived need for user support and the support services made available to them by the audit firms. Some previous studies on the use of software applications in auditing have suggested that the use will increase in the future, however, there has not been much evidence of that happening. Maybe this is an indication that the lack of efficient EUC support is hindering the spread of the use of decision aids in audit firms.