Abstract This article explores the concept of audit risk in accounting. Audit risk is a concept the accounting profession has struggled with for years. What audit risk is, what comprises audit risk, how to measure audit risk even the term itself-has evolved gradually. Because the literature on audit risk is fragmented, the many ideas relating to the concept may confuse the auditor at first. Upon scrutiny, the ideas are generally found to be consistent. Despite problems with implementing audit risk in practice, the concept is helpful to the auditor in performing an engagement. This paper explores the concept of audit risk by examining definitions and models found in the literature. Using the explanation of audit risk presented in the current professional standards as a basis, the paper integrates ideas on audit risk from various sources. Early literature dealing with audit risk is reviewed, and professional thought regarding the concept is traced. The definitions and models of audit risk are then analyzed in an attempt to help the auditor understand and use the concept on audit engagements. Moreover, this article discusses the Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS 47). This is the first official pronouncement to explicitly differentiate between overall audit risk and individual audit risk. While SAS 47 defines and discusses overall audit risk, a notable omission is a definition of individual audit risk.
Janet L. Colbert (Tue,) studied this question.