The ability to reduce the expectation gap between financial reporting users and auditors: an analytical study of audit offices in Iraq

Economic Annals-ХХI: Volume 188, Issue 3-4, Pages: 174-181

Citation information:
Abdulahad, A. F. (2021). The ability to reduce the expectation gap between financial reporting users and auditors: an analytical study of audit offices in Iraq. Economic Annals-XXI, 188(3-4), 174-181. doi: https://doi.org/10.21003/ea.V188-20

Alaa Fareed Abdulahad
PhD (Accounting),
Assistant Professor,
Faculty of Graduate Studies,
Southern Technical University
26 Al-Zubair Str., Basra, 61004, Iraq
alaabotto@stu.edu.iq
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8135-9239

The ability to reduce the expectation gap between financial reporting users and auditors: an analytical study of audit offices in Iraq

Abstract. As a result of the exposure of the audit profession to many criticisms directed by the financial community and users of financial reports, by failing to provide the desired services, resulting in a gap of expectation between the financial community and users of financial reports and auditors, the profession had to take into account the requirements of the financial community and users of financial reports to reduce the expectation gap between the financial community and users of financial reports and auditors. From this point, the study is based on examining the gap between the financial community and users of financial reports and auditors, as well as on ways to reduce this gap by an analytical study of the opinions of both auditors working in audit offices operating in Iraq and a number of users of financial reports employed in joint stock companies. In order to achieve these objectives, a survey was conducted in 2020, under which 140 questionnaires were distributed. One of the most important findings of the research is that a major reason for the gap of expectations in the audit profession from the point of view of users of financial reports is the underperformance of the auditor’s responsibilities, and the lack of auditing standards is a major reason for the gap of expectations in the audit profession from the point of view of auditors. 

Keywords: Financial Reports; Audit Offices; Analytical Approach; General Accounting

JEL Classifications: H83; M48

Acknowledgements and Funding: The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Contribution: The authors contributed equally to this work.

Data Availability Statement: The dataset is available from the author upon request.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21003/ea.V188-20

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Received 11.02.2021
Received in revised form 21.03.2021
Accepted 30.03.2021
Available online 10.05.2021