Remote Audits and Professional Skepticism: An exploratory Study

In recent times, the phenomenon of remote audits has been on a steady increase and reinforced by the recent COVID 19 pandemic. In this study, we explore the impact of the remote audit on professional skepticism, a marker of audit quality. Using a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews, we find that the remote audit could impact professional skepticism negatively through a less effective transfer of knowledge from more experienced staff to novices, as well as the diminished ability to search for audit evidence. Again, we find that a measure to bolster the overall level of skepticism for the audit team in the remote audit setting is through better support and guidance of junior level staff, and the right to disconnect for more experienced staff.