Auditor Risk Assessment: Insights from the Academic Literature

To contribute to the PCAOB project on risk assessment in financial statement audits, we draw on the academic literature to offer insights and conclusions on the risk-assessment process. We use the PCAOB’s (2005) recent briefing paper on risk assessment as the organizing framework for our literature review, and we examine academic auditing literature addressing topics including business risk, inherent risk, control risk, fraud risk, linking risk assessments to subsequent testing, and the audit risk model. Overall, we believe that the results of academic research are consistent with the PCAOB staff’s apparent reconsideration of the auditor’s risk-assessment process. We conclude with identification of future research topics and recognition of barriers to performing research that is relevant to standard setters.