Is the impact of audit effort on quality of auditors’ performance contingent on virtual audit proficiency? An auditors’ perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic

In this study the researcher aims to investigate the effect of virtual audit proficiency on both audit effort and quality of auditors’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the researcher investigates the effect of audit effort on the quality of auditors’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, he examines the moderating effect of virtual audit proficiency on the association between audit effort and quality of auditors’ performance. Furthermore, the author examines the moderating effect of the audit firm between virtual audit proficiency and quality of auditors’ performance. To examine the hypotheses, the author utilises quantitative research. The researcher collects the data using a questionnaire survey to which 193 Saudi external auditors responded. He employs the partial least squares in structural equations modelling approach. The results demonstrate that virtual audit proficiency positively affects both audit effort and quality of auditors’ performance. Moreover, the results show that audit effort positively affects the quality of auditors’ performance. Significantly, the results also show the significant role of virtual audit proficiency as a moderating variable between audit effort and the quality of auditors’ performance. However, the results indicate that audit firm type has no moderating effect on the relationship between virtual audit proficiency and quality of auditors’ performance. The originality of this paper, based on the researcher’s knowledge, is that it is the first evidence on audit practices during the COVID-19 crisis that has several theoretical and practical implications.