Effect of audit client’s use of blockchain technology on auditing accounting estimates: evidence from the Middle East

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of audit client’s use of blockchain (BC) on auditing accounting estimates (AEs), especially the inherent risk (IR), control risk (CR) and collection of audit evidence. Design/methodology/approach The study used a questionnaire to collect data for a sample of 249 auditors. A partial least squares method is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results showed positive relationship between audit client’s use of BC and both IR and CR when auditing AEs. The results also showed the BC improves the collection of sufficient and appropriate audit evidence when auditing AEs. Research limitations/implications This study did not address all the risks associated with auditing AEs, including fraud, detection, sampling and nonsampling risks, and the procedures and tests for auditing AEs. Practical implications There are several implications of this research, including that it informs the revision of auditing standards and guidelines to correspond with successive technological changes, which subsequently clarify the roles and responsibilities of auditors, and the study findings will also cause changes to the design and form of audit procedures so as to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is considered the first of its kind that deals with the effects of audit client’s use of BC on audit AEs in the Middle East and North Africa region. This study also presented different sets of measures as proxies for measuring IR, CR and AE.