A Big-4 Firm’s Use of Information Technology to Control the Audit Process : How an Audit Support System is Changing Auditor Behavior

This study investigates auditors' reactions to a new audit support system that was designed by a Big-4 firm as a response to a stricter regulatory regime. The system's features guide audit teams to comply with the firm's methodology and auditing standards. Understanding auditors' reactions is important because they influence the effectiveness of the system as a control. Our analysis of internal documents from the firm and interviews we conducted with auditors identifies that although many of the system's features could have been used as a coercive control, this was not the case. The auditors view the system positively and reported that it enables the effective delivery of audit engagements. Two primary factors explain their reaction: (1) management's interventions during system deployment, and (2) how the system's design ensures compliance by providing audit teams with constrained choices in applying the system's recommendations. These factors developed an auditor's sense of empowerment by leveraging their skills and knowledge. Empowerment became stronger following management interventions that encouraged audit teams to challenge the system's recommendations. We compare how auditors reacted to the new system with prior research, and document how this system's features are changing auditor behavior and increasing the frequency and timeliness of audit team interaction. This analysis demonstrates that when used as a process control, an audit support system can have unintended consequences for auditor behavior and interaction. More generally, this study highlights that to understand how technology impacts auditor behavior, it is important to examine the technology's design and deployment