Introduction
Background and Research Problem of the Study
Ethical audit principles govern the actions of auditors globally in order to promote public confidence on audit professionals. It is a requirement that auditors strictly adhere to, to set principles which form the auditor’s professional ethics in their duty. Despite availability of audit principles, there are instances where auditors are unprofessional; hence, there is need to study the importance of ethical principles in auditing.
Purpose and Objective
The purpose of this research is to enumerate the significance of ethical principles in an audit. The objective of this study is to make the principles governing an audit and their importance available. This research also provides a channel to ensure understanding and application of auditing principles. This research is noteworthy as it relates ethical principles and their significance adding value to available research. The allocated period is enough to complete the research.
Literature Review
This chapter also details the literature related to ethical audit principles and their importance. It focuses on the importance of ethical principles in auditing and forms the pillar of the study. Researchers including Kaler and Chryssides (1993), Russel (2005), Ferell, and Fraedrich (2012) have documented ethical audit principles in their studies including integrity, competence, independence confidentiality, and objectivity. Further research will be based on (Kaptein, 2010) and (Heerden et al, 2010) on ethical auditing, they explain ethical audit principles including tactfulness, judgment ability, patience and idea presentation. These studies on ethical principles expound on the ethical principles significance, which is the main objective in this study. This study has close relation to previous research and aims at improving adherence to ethical principles by auditors.
Methodology
Document analysis, interviews, and observation are the main data collection methods to be applied in this research. The data collection techniques will allow for the collection of present, practical, and historical data to make an all-inclusive research on the topic. Existing theories and principles shall be used in the research. The design of the project will be by analysis of documents to gain background knowledge and general concepts on the topic followed by interviews and observation of auditors in the course of their duty. This will aid in ensuring the findings are concurrent and reliable.
Strategy, timetable, and challenges
The strategies will entail in-depth document analysis in the first one and half years followed by incorporation of interviews, observation and data correction for the remaining years. A presentation of the findings and summary is the expected outcome of this part. Challenges include scheduling of interviews and securing auditor’s time for observation.
References
Chryssides, G., & Kaler, J. (1993). An Introduction to Business Ethics. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA.
Ferrel, O., & Fraedrich, J. (2012). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases. New York: Cengage Learning.
Heerden, B., Mine van Zyl, B., Prozeski, M., & Rossouw, D. (2008). Ethics for Accountants and Auditors. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kaptein, S. (1998). Ethics Management: Auditing and Developing the Ethical Content of Organizations. New York: Springer.
Russel, J. (2005). The Asq Auditing Handbook: Principles, Implementation, and Use. Milwaukee: ASQ Quality Press.