TRANSFORMATION OF AUDIT SERVICE

Аннотация

In this paper, the authors attempt to formulate a new definition of the concept of modern audit as a process in which internal auditors use information and communication technologies (ICT) in conjunction with analytical procedures to collect electronic evidence, interact with the auditee, and prepare a report on the reliability of financial data and internal control systems regardless of the auditor's physical location. Based on research on virtual teams and analysis of internal audit activities, we present a research framework that defines the areas in which ICT and automated audit analytics allow auditors to work remotely, reduce travel expenses and wait times, and improve efficiency and coverage. Keywords: Audit innovation, remote audit, continuous audit, internal audit: communication; evidence, virtual teams, information and communication technologies (ICT). Auditing has been a constantly changing discipline since its inception over 100 years ago. But how much have the challenges facing accountants changed in the last decade? Today, auditing continues to face a number of unresolved issues, such as: the need to keep pace with different business models; the emergence of new technologies that are constantly changing the way we live and do business; the increase and tightening of regulatory requirements with a comprehensive impact on all sectors. Such a change in business and regulatory circumstances has significant consequences. Auditors are faced with the task of not only deciding how to implement these changes into their own business and activities, but also considering how the news will affect their clients or those with whom they do business. The audit is a multifaceted and complex process aimed at achieving high- quality results and work efficiency (i.e., minimizing audit risk). Auditing activities are the entrepreneurial activities of audit organizations to provide audit services. [1] Being entrepreneurial by definition, the activities of auditors and audit firms always strive to minimize costs. It is obvious that it is not possible to achieve both minimum costs and minimum audit risk at the same time. Since a 24-may 2024-yil 412 BARQAROR IQTISODIY OʻSISH ORQALI AHOLI TURMUSH FAROVONLIGINI OSHIRISH MASALALARI decrease in audit risk is inevitably associated with an increase in the sample size (an increase in labor costs) or with the involvement of more experienced specialists (an increase in cost). Thus, the auditor faces the task of optimization: to minimize the costs of conducting the audit at an acceptable level of risk, or to minimize the audit risk at acceptable labor costs. To approach the optimal option for conducting an audit, it must be properly planned. Therefore, we can say that the goal of planning is to ensure that the audit is carried out in the best (optimal) way from the point of view of the ratio of possible audit risk and audit costs. Audit practitioners are gradually introducing communication and analytical technologies to scale, change timelines, and reduce the cost of audit processes. These efforts were mainly episodic and did not have a holistic theoretical positioning. A significant part of the research literature is devoted to audit automation, however, less attention is paid to one of the main advantages of technologies in auditing - the ability to reduce the amount of on-site audit work and shift it to remote employees. While continuous auditing expands the scope of auditing, allowing procedures to be carried out on an ongoing basis and on demand, remote auditing reduces the location requirements for auditors, allowing them to distribute audit tasks between on-site and remote audit team members. Adding a remote internal audit component is not just a side benefit of audit automation, it is a driving force for the use of technology and an opportunity to rethink the approach to auditing. We define the term "remote audit" as follows: a process in which auditors use information and communication technologies (ICT) and data analytics to assess the reliability of financial data and internal controls, collect electronic evidence, and interact with the auditee. [2] The two main elements of remote auditing - ICT and analytics - provide the basis for future research on the technical and behavioral aspects of remote auditing. Figure 1 illustrates these elements. Both on-site and remotely, audit team members use ICT to interact with both process managers and each other. Auditors also use automated tools to extract and analyze data from the audited organization's systems to verify internal controls and transactions. As the cost of technology and internet access continues to decline and budget pressure mounts, more and more internal audit groups are using remote audit technologies. Additional motivations for organizations to conduct remote audits include improving audit quality, increasing client contact time, increasing auditor contact time, expanding audit coverage, and reducing travel an