Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the motivation for this special issue and its contributions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a conceptual editorial piece which discusses current methodological tendencies in qualitative accounting research. Findings – The...

Conventional texts on research methods research have a tendency to provide acontextual prescriptive accounts of how research should be carried out. The authors of this paper have recently compiled an edited collection of accounts of how qualitative research was carried out in a variety of social...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the way in which auditing issues have been raised and addressed during the credit crunch and developing global financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach – Analysis is based on a review of the academic auditing literature, regulatory and...

Purpose – In recent international debates on auditing regulation, Spain has assumed a real prominence as a claimed practical example of where a policy of mandatory audit firm rotation did not work and was duly abolished. This study aims to provide an analysis of the implementation and...

Purpose – This paper aims to develop understanding of how the pursuit of practice change in auditing, especially in relation to audit methodologies, is conveyed, presented, reflected in and enabled (or hindered) through discursive, textual constructions by audit firms....

Purpose – IFAC, a Swiss-registered non-governmental organization, is emerging as an important international (auditing) standard setter amongst a powerful group of regulators, including the World Bank, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the European Commission...

Through a select number of essays from leading accounting scholars, this special debating forum reflects on how the international academic accounting profession has responded in the aftermath of Enron and other recent corporate scandals. The presented combination of personal experiences and...

In seeking to encourage a broader, European dimension to research on auditing and audit expectations, this paper examines the recent history of auditing and its regulation in Spain within the context of international developments in the accounting profession. The more expansive role being...