Common Audit Deficiencies Under the Audit Quality Microscope

The quality of an audit becomes visible as the auditor inspects the correspondence level between the established criteria and the presented information by using the International Standards on Auditing (ISA). The way of applying ISAs may differ in variety of situations in accordance with the auditor’s professional judgement. In this manner, trying to evaluate the quality of audits and how high quality audits can be achieved needs to be set by several indicators in accordance with International Quality Control Standard 1 (ISQC 1). Audit quality indicators are a combination of qualitative and quantitative measures, there is no single measure of audit quality. The use of Information Technologies (IT) through business methods and internal controls has preferably increased its importance for those same information technologies to be used in auditing and assurance services. New areas of auditing and assurance services have opened up with the digitalization process of the world. There has been argument about whether the IT will replace the accounting profession, whether IT systems will replace auditors. It is indisputable that using IT systems in auditing process increase the quality of the audit without increasing the time spent on the audited data. However, this introduces new technological and business risks that the auditor will need to assess. Accordingly, the expectation from the quality of auditing has increased, but what about the results of the regulatory bodies? Enhanced discussions, in turn, may strengthen audit quality. This chapter explains the key elements that create an environment for audit quality focusing on the audit deficiencies related to the inspection reports from the world’s audit regulators. Building/enhancing trust via audit quality cannot be formulized by algorithms or particular standards or obligations. The meaning of evaluation of audit quality depends on the conditions facing the auditor. Measuring professional skepticism, due care or professional judgement are critical factors affecting audit quality. For this reason a comparison is made between Turkish Oversight Authority (KGK) and International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) inspection reports.