Antecedents of dysfunctional audit behaviour among auditors in Pakistan

Abstract

Over the last three decades, publicized catastrophes like Enron, WorldCom have dented credibility of the auditing profession. It must be noted that despite rigorous auditing guidelines and standards being in place, Pakistan has had its share of corporate financial scandals such as Crescent Standard Bank scandal in 2006 and Taj company in 2004. In the light of these scandals, there is a need to investigate occurrences and causes of these failures, which is still limited in terms of empirical investigation conducted in Pakistan. The current study focused on determinants of dysfunctional audit behaviour; namely under reporting of time, premature sign off and altering procedure. Therefore, this study examined the influence of time budget pressure and professional skepticism on dysfunctional audit behaviour dimensions such as under reporting of time and premature sign off. Emotional intelligence was also examined as a moderator in the effect of time budget pressure on premature sign off and under reporting of time. The sample was 314 auditors employed at the Big4 and NonBig4 firms in Pakistan. Data were collected by questionnaire survey methods. For the data analysis purpose, SPSS- version 22 was used for descriptive and inferential statistics whereas Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach using AMOS version-22 was utilized for hypothetical relationship. Findings suggest that perceived level of dysfunctional audit behaviour, and time budget pressure were higher among junior level auditors in comparison to senior auditors. The perceived level of dysfunctional audit behaviour, and time budget pressure were higher in NonBig4 in comparison to Big4 firms. Findings also showed that the perceived level of professional skepticism was higher among senior auditors as compared to junior auditors working at NonBig4 firms. Results confirmed that time budget pressure and professional skepticism are two predictors of premature sign off and under reporting of time. Emotional intelligence also moderated the relationship between the time budget pressure and premature sign off. However, the findings did not support the moderation effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship of time budget pressure and under reporting of time. This study brings practical contribution to auditing profession; particularly to the regulatory body of auditors “Institute of Chartered Accountant of Pakistan” and audit firms. Thereby, this study will be beneficial to help understand dysfunctional audit behaviour which has been understudied or overlooked in Pakistani context.