Tatenda Mugwira

• Lorentzon, Johan Ingemar; Fotoh, Lazarus Elad & Mugwira, Tatenda (2023). Remote auditing and its impacts on auditors’ work and work-life balance: auditors’ perceptions and implications. Accounting Research Journal. ISSN 1030-9616. doi: 10.1108/ARJ-06-2023-0158. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Purpose – This paper aims to explore the impacts of remote auditing on auditors’ work and work-life balance. Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopted a qualitative online survey approach using open-ended reflections from 98 highly experienced auditors. The survey design aligns with a “Big Q” approach to qualitative data. The reflections were interpreted through the theoretical lens of the social presence theory. Findings – Auditors underscore that remote auditing has improved their work-life balance since it offers flexibility, greater autonomy and efficient use of time. However, they believe less social contact due to remote auditing can hurt their work. Research limitations/implications – This study aimed to holistically comprehend the concept of work-life balance in a remote auditing setting. Therefore, the study refrained from making comparisons based on demographic information (e.g. gender, experience and type of audit firm). Practical implications – The findings highlight the need for adopting flexible work arrangements that prioritise auditors’ well-being. This is critical for making the audit profession attractive and enhancing overall audit quality. Updated regulatory guidance and controls are needed concerning the use of technologies in remote auditing to ensure high-quality audits. Social implications – The findings of this study can positively reshape public perception of the audit profession. Firstly, enhanced work-life balance can improve audit quality. Secondly, incorporating emerging technologies in auditing can result in society perceiving auditors as adaptive to innovation and technological advancement that has been touted for their potential for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of audit and audit quality, potentially enhancing societal trust in auditing. Originality/value – The findings of this study complement the auditing literature that has mainly focused on the traditional work paradigm, requiring in-person presence. The authors identify potential challenges emanating from auditors’ remote work and propose solutions for audit firms to improve work-life balance in a remote work setting

• Mugwira, Tatenda (2022). Internet Related Technologies in the auditing profession: A WOS bibliometric review of the past three decades and conceptual structure mapping. Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review. ISSN 1138-4891. 25(2), p. 201–216. doi: 10.6018/rcsar.428041. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Research on Internet-Related Technologies in the auditing profession has grown substantially over the past three decades; however, it is very fragmented. This study seeks to synthesize and provide a comprehensive overview of the literature. Using bibliometric techniques and content analysis, this study provides an exhaustive overview of the research on Internet-Related Technologies in the auditing profession. The study utilized bibliography from the Web of Science database spanning for three decades from 1990 to 2019. A total of 236 academic documents, written by 478 authors from 102 sources was retrieved and used for the analysis. HistCite and Biblioshiny in R were used to run the citation and network analysis. Influential journals, institutions, trending articles and important network collaborations were identified. Bibliographical coupling in a data visualization software (VOSviewer) and content analysis in Excel were used to identify the following six major research streams: (1) the use of big data analytics in the auditing profession, (2) impact of Internet Related Technologies on continuous auditing, (3) impacts of Internet Related Technologies on audit quality and efficiency (4) impact of Internet Related Technologies on fraud detection and risk assessment (5) blockchain and the auditing profession (6) cloud auditing and audit support systems. Potential important research avenues and practical implications of the research were also provided.

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• Mugwira, Tatenda; Stuart, Iris Caroline & Kulset, Ellen Hiorth Marthinsen (2023). Implications to the Audit Process of Auditing that uses Data Analytics Tools and New Business Models. University of Agder. ISSN 978-82-8427-118-7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  New advances in information technology have created a wave of technological innovations which affect the audit firms. Audit firms are now investing large sums of money to acquire and adopt data analytics tools. Using three studies in this dissertation, I investigated questions relating to the impact of digital tools in the audit process. These studies are briefly summarized below. The first study investigates whether the audit evidence from a process mining tool provides information that adds to the appropriateness (relevance) of the audit evidence collected by traditional analytical procedures. The results shows that auditors do perceive evidence from a process mining tool to express information that is relevant for both the planning and substantive stages of the audit even though the auditor’s risk assessment was higher in the substantive stage as compared to the planning stage. In addition, the results also shows that there was no difference in the auditor’s assessment of the relevance of the information presented in graph format and in written text format as both are considered equally relevant in the planning and substantive stages. The second study investigates the unintended consequences in auditor’s decision making of using digital tools with powerful visualization abilities in the audit process. Specifically, the study investigates whether auditors make their decisions based on the relevance of the information to the decision to be made when using both visual audit evidence and text evidence or their decision will be based on a bias. The results shows that when auditors are presented with different information presented in different formats (visual or text), they are most likely to use the piece of information presented in visual rather than using the piece of audit evidence which is relevant to the decision. The third paper analyses the fraud case of a financial technology company Wirecard using the fraud triangle as the theoretical framework. The results shows that of the three factors identified in the fraud triangle, opportunity was the most prevalent factor and rationalization was least observable.

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