Auditor's Analysis of Client?s Strategy Content and Strategy Process: An Impact on Risk Assessment and Audit Planning

Since the late 1990s, auditing firms have been developing and implementing new, ?strategic systems? audit approaches that emphasize the link between business risks arising from client operations in the context of a given industry, and accounting choices associated with measuring, recording, and reporting the results of these operations. This study examines whether (a) the analysis of client strategy improves the effectiveness of risk assessments and audit planning; and (b) the analysis of client strategy content or strategy process is associated with more accurate risk assessments. Findings in this study provide evidence in support of ?systems thinking? driven analyses of client strategy during the planning phase of an audit. Auditors who perform analyses of a client?s strategy improve their assessments of inherent and auditee risk, when managers? assessments are used as within-cell matched benchmarks. Analysis of strategy content appears to facilitate assessments of the client?s control environment at the entity level and assessments of the control risk at the level of a business process.