An empirical investigation of the audit expectations gap in Iran

Purpose This paper investigates whether an audit expectation gap exists among independent auditors and users of financial statements in Iran. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a survey instrument to identify the audit expectation gap in Iran. The research method is similar to that adopted by Schelluch, Best et al. , Fadzly and Ahmad and Dixon et al. Findings Audit expectation gaps are found to exist in the areas of auditor responsibility for fraud detection, soundness of the internal controls, and preparation of financial statements. Results indicate no significant difference between users and independent auditors regarding the reliability and utility of audited financial statements. The insignificant results in terms of audit function could be attributed to the culture of trust between auditors and stakeholders in Iran. Research limitations/implications Despite normal precautionary steps to increase the response rate, non‐response bias may affect the findings. Another limitation of the study is the different economic and cultural conditions of Iran compared to other countries. Therefore, caution should be used in generalizing the findings to other countries. Practical implications The findings will help to reduce the expectation gaps through improvement in auditor‐user communication in the audit reports as well as educating users on the nature and functions of audits. Originality/value The paper extends previous studies on audit expectation gap in a different economic and cultural context, i.e. Iran.