The South African audit report: an empirical investigation of the positive perceptions gap

Abstract

The positive perceptions gap, a component of the expectations gap, is the difference between what auditors perceive they are doing and what informed users of audited financial information perceive auditors are doing. This article reports the results of an empirical study to determine whether the positive perceptions gap exists in South Africa concerning the messages communicated by the Standard Audit Report. The study investigated three key areas by means of a questionnaire; auditor accountability the attributes of an audit examination and the attributes of the auditee company.

Of 31 questions examined, 17 responses reflected statistically significant differences between auditors and users. The study concludes that a positive perceptions gap exists in South Africa, principally in the areas of auditor accountability and the attributes of an audit examination.

Keywords:

• Auditing
• Audit Report
• Expectation Gap
• Positive Perceptions Gap