Education as a contribution to reduce the audit expectation gap: The Portuguese case

Abstract

The auditor profession has always faced the problem of the audit expectation gap. These differences of expectations emerge from the perception society has in relation to: the quality of the audit work, the performance of the auditors, the result of their work and their objectives; in comparison with what is expected from these professionals. The objective of this study is to evaluate if, in Portugal, the teaching of audit courses reduces, or not, the audit expectation gap. The authors questioned students in higher education courses of management and accounting, before and after having audit courses, to find out if these influenced their perception on the responsibilities, the duties and limitations of the auditor work. The authors concluded that audit education does not reduce these differences in all the points analyzed, however, it alters the students’ perception regarding the auditor's responsibility regarding prevention and detection of errors, frauds and illegal acts.