Role of auditing theory in education and practice;

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The Role of Auditing Theory in Education and Practice
Robert E. Hamilton
University of Minnesota
Audit activities are receiving increased public attention and scrutiny. With public institutions increasingly being the subject of auditors' activities and with public disclosure occurring of the financial and operating results of large CPA firms, there is an increasing demand for explanations of the auditor's role in our society. The expansion of audit activities performed by governmental, in­ternal,
and external auditors likewise has not gone unnoticed. New audit pro­cedures,
new forms of audit organization, and new institutional arrangements have been rapidly introduced without a simultaneous infusion of explanations which are grounded in theory.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the nature of a theory of auditing which would improve the underpinnings for explanations of audit activities and to identify specific linkages between improvements in theory and difficult problems in auditing education and practice. A theory of auditing can help im­prove
our understanding of the role for auditing in society and thus improve the ability of society's members to design institutional structures and to take actions which lead to desired outcomes.
Auditing is a term associated with activities having specified characteristics. An auditing theory should describe these activities and their particular con­figurations
and intensities. It should explain using differing relative amounts of substantive and compliance testing and differences in the amount of resources used to audit a public versus a private entity. These two matters are but illus­trative
of a larger set which is concerned with describing why observed auditing activities are what they are. If this view of auditing theory appears limited, there is an additional discussion of auditing theory in a subsequent section of this paper which should expand the horizon.
The remaining sections of this paper are organized in the following way. A discussion and review of developments in auditing theory is presented along with a description of the characteristics appropriate for an auditing theory. The two subsequent sections contain a more specific discussion and development of ways in which auditing theory can impact education and practice. The final section is a prospective on future developments in auditing theory.
Where are We in Auditing Theory?
Before a role for auditing theory can be identified there exists the steps of
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