（2003）The evolving role of IS audit：a field study comparing the perceptions of IS and financial auditors.pdfVIP

THE EVOLVING ROLE OF IS AUDIT: A FIELD STUDY COMPARING THE PERCEPTIONS OF IS AND FINANCIAL AUDITORS Valaria P. Vendrzyk and Nancy A. Bagranoff ABSTRACT The study describes and contrasts information systems (IS) and financial auditors’ perceptions of the current and future role of IS auditing within the largest accounting/professional services organizations (the Big Five). We conducted a field study of 20 senior managers and partners among the then Big Five firms in the United States to better understand how the IS audit function is expected to change. We find that IS and financial auditors have different perceptions about the current and future relationship between IS and financial audit and differ in their opinions of clients’ expectations for future audit services. INTRODUCTION The traditional audit model has undergone significant change during the last decade. The change in the financial audit’s focus is attributed to market pressures, including saturation, competitive pricing, and increased training and technology Advances in Accounting Advances in Accounting, Volume 20, 141–163 Copyright © 2003 by Elsevier Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 0882-6110/doi:10.1016/S0882-6110(03)20007-9 141 142 VALARIA P. VENDRZYK AND NANCY A. BAGRANOFF (Eilifsen et al., 2001). The audit has taken on a risk management focus, and audit engagement teams increasingly include information system specialists (Winograd et al., 2000). Concurrently, the profession has moved toward offering additional systems assurance services (Arnold et al., 2000; O’Donnell et al., 2000). For example, O’Donnell et al. (2000) suggest that there has been a paradigm shift in assurance services, which focuses on the internal control systems throughout an in