Audit cloud adoption by German audit firms

Abstract

A profound transition from manual to digital audit procedures entails extensive reevaluation of requirements for audit firm organization, IT infrastructures, and expertise. Currently, many audit firms lack sufficient human and technical resources to master this transformation. Therefore, the audit domain is considering introducing a third party to the audit process, in which IT resources and skills are pooled. However, it is uncertain to what extent these so-called audit clouds can contribute to the future of auditing. So far, findings regarding audit cloud acceptance, a prerequisite for their establishment, could not be identified. To fill this research gap, this article describes the development of a research model based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. Due to a recent German law change regarding the recognition of legal certainty in cloud computing, the initial data collection is completed in Germany, with the goal of performing future studies in other jurisdictions. © International Conference on Information Systems 2018, ICIS 2018.All rights reserved.