The Relationship between Electronic Auditing and External Audit Quality: A Study of a Sample of Statutory Auditors

Abstract

This study aims to investigate how electronic auditing tool implementation and Enterprise Resource Planning system auditing affect external audit quality. The study investigates how professional experience levels affect this relationship. The research team chose to use descriptive–analytical methods for their study. A survey instrument was developed and disseminated to a cohort of (53) mandated auditors, and the resultant data underwent scrutiny via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The research findings show that ERP systems produce a strong positive impact on audit quality which achieves statistical significance (β = 0.731). The model explains 59.1% of the variance in quality through its predictive capabilities. The implementation of general electronic auditing tools failed to produce any direct statistical impact while the research data did not support professional experience as a moderating variable. The study finds that auditing success in digital environments requires complete integration with client embedded systems because ERP systems determine reliability more than digital tools or professional experience does. The discovery requires professional training programs to shift their educational focus toward these specific systems.