企业数字化影响关键审计事项决策吗?

Could Enterprise Digitization Influence Key Audit Matters Decision-making?

本文以2016-2020年我国A股上市公司为样本,探究企业数字化对关键审计事项决策的影响。研究发现,在数字技术进步冲击下,年报审计师在数字化程度较高企业中的关键审计事项决策更加谨慎,具体表现为披露更多的关键审计事项数目、风险匹配度较高的关键审计事项和数字化业务风险匹配的关键审计事项。进一步地,数字技术进步下的关键审计事项披露决策在审计师信息技术背景组合的样本中更明显,并且高科技企业的数字化特性强化了关键审计事项风险控制决策。作用机制表明,数字化机制会促进企业高质量审计需求和增加审计投入力度,进而强化关键审计事项披露的充分性。本文从数字技术环境变化层面丰富了新审计报告关键审计事项披露的风险控制效用研究,对数字技术进步下注册会计师执业能力转变具有重要价值。

Taking Chinese A-share listed firms from 2016 to 2020 as our samples, this paper explores the impact of enterprise digitization on the decision-making of key audit matters(KAMs). The empirical result shows that auditors of annual reports are more conservatism in KAMs decision-making concerning enterprises with higher degree of digitization, which is reflected in reporting a higher number of KAMs, more risk-matching KAMs and risk-matching digital-related KAMs. Furthermore, we find that the effective KAMs decision-making of enterprise digitization are more pronounced in auditors with IT professional background, and that the KAMs’ risk control effect of enterprise digitization is more obvious in high-tech enterprises. Finally, the influence mechanism shows that enterprise digitization can enhance the demand for high-quality audit, increase auditors effort, and further strengthen the adequacy of the disclosure decision of KAMs. This paper not only enriches the research on risk control of KAMs disclosures in the new audit report from the perspective of digitized environment, and it is of great value to the transformation of CPAs’ professional competency given the progress in digital technology.