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«Professional Skepticism: The Heart of Audit

by Katharine Bagshaw, Manager, Auditing Standards, ICAEW | September 6, 2018 

Most of us who trained as auditors never really lose the urge to question numbers. The temptation to ask on what basis they were calculated, to generally prod and poke around, and to make sure that they are what they appear to be, becomes instinctive.

Skepticism it not just at the heart of auditing, it is in the heart of most auditors, a fact that is not obvious to outsiders given the various calls for auditors to exercise more skepticism, particularly when the pressures of deadlines and budgets are brought to bear and doing the right thing becomes more of a challenge. 

Firms are well aware of this. They use the insights of behavioral psychology, particularly as relates to the various forms of bias, to build checks and balances into the system to ensure that skepticism is in fact applied consistently throughout the audit and across the practice. 

The ICAEW’s report, Scepticism: The Practitioners’ Take, aims to move forward the debate on skepticism by offering insights from real auditors and people who work with them. Based on a series of interviews with practicing auditors, training providers and audit regulators, the report sets out the views of those with first-hand audit experience who deal with the pressures of deadlines and budgets.

It explores who is responsible for skepticism, how to improve it, and what firms are already doing to try and encourage it. These are some of the key messages: (...)». Continue a ler.