Overview

Auditing is a kind of "social science" in that it involves variety of different techniques and procedures as well as a measure of professional judgment. Auditors use their professional judgment in every phase of the audit; from planning and performing the audit to determining the type of audit report and communicating with management and the audit committee. Although there is no universally agreed-upon professional judgment model to measure good or bad judgment, the auditing profession uses certain types of criteria to measure and quantify the professional judgment of its members. These criteria can be broken into the categories of mindset, consultation, knowledge and professional standards, influences and biases, reflection, coaching, and training.

This module discusses the key components of good professional judgment, including steps that auditors can use in a judgment process to mitigate bias and improve the quality of their professional judgment.

Module covers the following topics:

• Importance of professional judgment in auditing
• Professional judgment process model
• Professional skepticism and judgment framing
• Mitigating the effects of judgment biases

Questions

Complete the following.

1. Write a summary of the key elements of the professional judgment framework presented in this module.

2. Search again the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Web site at www.aicpa.org to locate a disciplinary action. (Choose one that was not discussed in the Discussion Forum.) Explain which elements of the professional judgment framework were violated by the subject of this disciplinary action.

3. Suggest one additional element that you think might be included in the framework. The element should be one that would improve the quality of the auditor's professional judgment.