Behavioral aspects of auditor detection of fraud in financial statement audits

journal cover

№ 11, 2024

Authors: Anna TUMANIAN

Issue: № 11, 2024

Doi: https://doi.org/10.37634/efp.2024.11.17

Over the past 50 years, in the researches of foreign scientists, the issues of accounting and auditing have been considered through the theory of behavioral accounting. On the other hand, in the studies of Ukrainian scientists, behavioral accounting in accounting and auditing was almost not considered. The main meaning of the theory of behavioral accounting is not to consider accounting and auditing exclusively in numbers, but to consider that accountants and auditors are people with a specific profession who behave according to their feelings and thoughts. It is customary to consider the concept of behavioral accounting according to the following topics: the influence of accounting information on behavior, management control, audit, ethics. The paper examines the behavioral aspects of financial reporting fraud, cognitive research in accounting and cognitive styles, the impact of the auditor's cognitive style on fraud detection, ethical aspects of accountants’ and auditors' behavior, etc. The behavioral aspects of fraud from both the perpetrators and the auditor, the states of fraud, and the fraud triangle are investigated. Behavioral aspects of fraud using behavioral theories, in particular cognitivism are investigated. Thus, cognitive characteristics (abilities, cognitive style, and strategy), types of auditor cognitive styles, cognitive factors that affect auditor performance, and cognitive processes used by auditors when considering financial reporting fraud are investigated.

Keywords : behavioral approach, behaviorism, accounting, auditing, professional judgment, professional skepticism

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