ABSTRACT

As in many other countries, the UK Government responded to the spread of the Covid 19 virus by announcing a stay-at-home policy that came into effect on 23rd March, 2020. The disruption caused by the pandemic and the sudden requirement for auditors to work from home presented some significant challenges as audit teams set about re-creating a virtual audit room. Drawing on data gathered through online interviews with audit team members and leaders at various levels within the firm hierarchy, this study examines how they continued to deliver professional services whilst negotiating challenges such as communication in the absence of face-to-face engagement, gathering audit evidence remotely and coaching/interaction in a virtual setting. The study finds that the enforced move to remote working has demonstrated that the traditional audit work model and the expectation of “being present” is not as entrenched as the literature suggests. Through identifying and understanding the challenges of remote audit work, the study also raises questions regarding the transformative power and potential of this episode for future work patterns within audit firms. This is important because research shows that employees are, on the whole, keen to work from home more often in the future and there is evidence that audit firms anticipate and recognise that the future of the audit work model is likely to take a more hybrid form.

摘要

与许多其他国家一样，英国政府宣布了一项于 2020 年 3 月 23 日生效的居家政策，以应对 Covid 19 病毒的传播。大流行造成的破坏以及审计师突然要求当审计团队着手重新创建虚拟审计室时，在家工作带来了一些重大挑战。本研究利用通过与审计团队成员和公司各级领导的在线访谈收集的数据，研究他们如何继续提供专业服务，同时应对挑战，例如在没有面对面参与的情况下进行沟通、收集审计远程证据和虚拟环境中的指导/互动。该研究发现，强制转向远程工作表明，传统的审计工作模式和“在场”的期望并不像文献所暗示的那样根深蒂固。通过识别和理解远程审计工作的挑战，该研究还提出了有关这一事件对审计公司未来工作模式的变革力量和潜力的问题。这很重要，因为研究表明，员工总体上更愿意在未来更频繁地在家工作，而且有证据表明，审计公司预计并认识到审计工作模式的未来可能会采取更加混合的形式. 该研究还提出了有关这一事件对审计公司未来工作模式的变革力量和潜力的问题。这很重要，因为研究表明，员工总体上更愿意在未来更频繁地在家工作，而且有证据表明，审计公司预计并认识到审计工作模式的未来可能会采取更加混合的形式. 该研究还提出了有关这一事件对审计公司未来工作模式的变革力量和潜力的问题。这很重要，因为研究表明，员工总体上更愿意在未来更频繁地在家工作，而且有证据表明，审计公司预计并认识到审计工作模式的未来可能会采取更加混合的形式.