arbiter
JournalsAccount

The Role of IT Infrastructure in Remote Audits: Evidence from Audits Completed During the Pandemic

Lin Liao et al.

Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory2025https://doi.org/10.2308/ajpt-2023-064article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.37

Abstract

SUMMARY The unprecedented disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed the transition to remote audits becoming the new normal. However, remote audits do not occur in a vacuum but require supportive information technology (IT) infrastructure. Distinct from the literature, we develop a measure that captures the extent to which lockdown days affect the audit and introduce a measure of IT infrastructure. Our baseline findings indicate that longer lockdowns occurring during the audit are associated with lower audit fees, longer audit report lag, and lower audit quality. Hypotheses test results reveal that stronger client IT infrastructure moderates the effect of longer lockdowns occurring during the audit, resulting in effective and efficient audits. Our robust results have timely and relevant implications for the literature, policy makers, and the profession. Our study underscores that the efficacy of remote audits will hinge on the quality of IT infrastructure through which remote audits are implemented. Data Availability: All data are available from sources cited in the text.

1 citation

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2308/ajpt-2023-064

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{lin2025,
  title        = {{The Role of IT Infrastructure in Remote Audits: Evidence from Audits Completed During the Pandemic}},
  author       = {Lin Liao et al.},
  journal      = {Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2308/ajpt-2023-064},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

The Role of IT Infrastructure in Remote Audits: Evidence from Audits Completed During the Pandemic

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.