The audit expectation gap in Thailand

Abstract

The audit expectation gap is denoted as the difference between what the public expects from an audit function and what the audit profession accepts the objective of auditing to be. The existence of an audit expectation gap is likely to be detrimental to the value of auditing and the well-being of the auditing profession as the contribution of auditing may not be fully recognized by society. This paper reports the findings of a questionnaire survey conducted to examine the audit expectation gap in Thailand. The study also analyzes the nature of the audit expectation gap in Thailand using Porter's (1993) framework. The study finds that an audit expectation gap exists with respect to 18 of the 42 duties of auditors examined. The analysis of the expectation gap shows that selected respondents consider 12 non-statutory duties of auditors to be 'unreasonable' expectations, while 12 duties are considered as 'reasonable' expectations of auditors. These 12 duties are classified as 'deficient standards'. The study also finds that two statutory duties are considered by the selected respondents to be 'deficient performance' by Thai auditors.