Audit Software Implementation in Audit Firms Approved by the Office of SEC: A Case of Non-Big 4 Audit Firms
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This paper was qualitative research, It aimed to explore audit software, benefits and barriers to the implementation of audit software in audit firms approved by the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand. The study used five Non-big 4 audit firms as a case study. It employed semi-structured in-depth interviews with senior managers. Five Non-big 4 audit firms were different in (1) the amount of registered capital (2) total income (3) a number of years in operation (4) a number of customers that are registered companies (5) a number of auditors approved by the Office of SEC (6) a total number of employees and (7) the status of a member of the world’s leading audit firm.
The study found that all audit firms used Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word as basic software in the audit process. Some firms adopted Voyager, Audit Command Language, CCH® Audit Automation, IDEA® Data Analysis Software and Monetary Unit Sampling as additional audit software. The implementation of audit software enabled auditors to (1) reduce audit process times and (2) fully inspect and reduce bias in evidence. Barriers to the implementation of audit software were (1) high investment costs and (2) a lack of technological knowledge and English proficiency.
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