Abstract Recent research indicates that auditors' account value estimates from analytical review are affected by knowledge of the unaudited account value (or book value). The exact nature of the consequences from the auditor's use of book value for analytical review has not been formally shown and is a source of controversy. This paper examines the audit cost and risk consequences associated with the auditor's reliance on book value for analytical review. The analysis is framed within a Bayesian decision theoretic model and is conducted for a comprehensive set of audit and environmental conditions. The results include expressions for audit cost/risk when the auditor's analytical review is and is not conditioned on book value. While definitive inferences are possible only when certain intuitive criteria are used, the advantages of incorporating book value in the practice of analytical review appear minimal. That is, reliance on book value would seem to require a procedure that, if reliable, would preclude the need for analytical review (or any other audit procedures).
Wild et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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