Interacting on Audit Engagements
While audit managers are typically sensitive to competence deficiencies in their audit staff and can compensate by employing additional procedures themselves, auditors’ ability to effectively respond to IT auditor competence deficiencies may be determined by their own AIS expertise level. As the AIS expertise of an auditors increases, the auditor’s knowledge of system design and controls should be greater and, thus, provide the auditor with a clearer understanding of what system controls the IT auditor has (or has not) tested, as well as the ability to compensate for the IT auditor’s competence deficiencies. The pairing of a less competent IT auditor with an auditor who maintains a low level of AIS expertise may lead to an ineffective audit. Auditors with low AIS expertise may over-rely on weak IT auditor tests because they lack the AIS expertise to independently identify system risks and perform IT- related tests themselves. Conversely, when the IT auditor assigned to the engagement is highly competent, all auditors should benefit from their inclusion on the engagement team, as they can rely more on the IT auditor’s testing and concentrate more on matters related to the financial statement audit. In summary, investigating the auditor – IT auditor relationship requires analyzing both the competence of the IT auditor as well as the AIS expertise the auditor bring to the engagement.