（2007）The Continuous Evolution of Continuous Auditing：Insights and Issues from the Outside In.pdfVIP

The Continuous Evolution of Continuous Auditing: Insights and Issues from the Outside In Stefano Zambon University of Ferrara Draft. Do not quote without permission Paper to be presented at the th 13 World Continuous Auditing and Reporting Symposium (WCARS), University of Ferrara, Ferrara (Italy), June 15-16, 2007 S. Zambon, University of Ferrara Introduction The emergence of e-commerce and electronic data interchange (EDI), growth of financial reporting using the Internet, hardware and software developments and improved user data analysis capabilities have made traditional reporting redundant in many circumstances. Traditional financial reporting takes place periodically and is essentially retrospective, offering limited relevance to users. Yet until recently, real-time reporting has been considered too costly, and in many cases, impossible. Demands for real-time reporting create demand for continuous auditing (CA). CA is “a comprehensive electronic audit process that allows auditors to provide some degree of assurance on continuous information simultaneous with, or shortly after, the disclosure of the information” (Rezaee, Ahmad, Elam McMickle, 2002, p. 150). The concept of CA is by no means a new concept. However, the demand for and viability of CA can no longer be ignored. Discussions regarding continuous auditing began in the early 1970s with the development of electronic data processing (EDP) and research followed in the late 1980s (Groomer Murthy, 1989). Continuous auditing provides unique implications, problems and opportunities fo