Auditing Research Essay Assignment -

For decades, audit quality has been placed on the regulatory agenda in many countries such as The U.S., UK, and Australia, etc. In particular, Australia's Federal Treasury has released a discussion paper named Audit Quality in Australia, a Strategic Review.

This document has once again stressed the importance of the audit function in financial reporting and its efficient functioning in capital markets and its impact on cost of capital. In reviewing audit quality the discussion paper examined various 'drivers' of audit quality: the regulatory framework; audit review processes; audit firm arrangements and processes; the reliability and usefulness of audit reporting; and other factors outside the control of auditors that affect 'audit quality'.

You are required to:

1. Describe briefly what might be regarded as 'audit quality' and how 'audit quality' might be assessed.

2. Outline and discuss how auditor's independence might impact 'audit quality'.

3. Outline and discuss how the audit expectations gap might impact 'audit quality'.

Presentation and Submission Requirements:

i) 12pt font, single sided, 1½ line spacing word-processed document;

ii) 2000 words (not including references);

iii) Essay format should be adopted, including Abstract, Introduction, Main discussion, Conclusion and Reference List

iv) A review of 7 journal articles is required.

v) Harvard reference style should be used.