How would the emerging technology affect the future of auditing?

Abstract

In the 21st century, new technologies, such as Big Data, Robotic Process Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain, has transformed the way we live and work. The ideas of several emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Blockchain were conceptualized, introduced, or popularized in 1900 (McCorduck, P., 2004), 1990 (Lohr, 2013), and 2008 (Narayanan, A., Bonneau, J., Felten, E. W., Miller, A., Goldfeder, S., & Clark, J., 2016) respectively. Although there is also the elements that remain unchanged when time goes by (Bednarek, 2018), the emerging technology is virtually disrupting every existing industry, which overturns and changes the business models. Accounting and auditing industry will definitely face plenty of changes under the emergence of new technologies. In this study, several new technologies affecting audit industry will be introduced, followed by the impact of such emerging technologies on audit procedure, and necessary constructive actions that can be taken by both industry and accounting students.