Audit Support System Design and the Declarative Knowledge of Long-Term Users

ABSTRACT: Although audit support systems have been deployed for over a decade, they continue to evolve. Technological advances present audit firms with the ongoing dilemma of deciding the type and extent of decision support to embed within their firm's system. This exploratory study complements the existing literature that has investigated the short-term consequences of providing decision support to auditors by investigating the association between the extent of decision support embedded within the audit support systems of three major international audit firms and the declarative knowledge possessed by long-term users. An experiment was conducted which required auditors, without the aid of their firm's audit support system, to list the key business risks common to clients in an industry familiar to them (hereafter referred to as relevant risks). As predicted, we find that auditors who normally use an audit support system that provides a low level of decision support list more relevant risks. This exploratory study provides preliminary evidence of a long-term consequence of providing decision support. The results will assist audit firms in their continued development of audit support systems.