Promoting Proactive Auditing Behaviors

We introduce the construct of auditor proactivity to the accounting literature. Since auditors work in complex, dynamic environments where complete directives are often unavailable, auditors need to be proactive to achieve quality audit outcomes. However, proactivity is often lacking in practice. Thus, we position auditor proactivity as a valuable but scarce determinant of audit quality. Drawing on literature on employee proactivity, tacit knowledge, and regulatory focus theory, we identify three synergistic antecedents to a range of distinct proactive auditing behaviors. Using an experiment, we find that auditors with greater autonomy engage in more proactive behaviors, but only if they have both higher tacit knowledge and a focus on achieving positive job outcomes (rather than avoiding negative job outcomes). Our theory and findings inform academics, regulators, and practitioners about how work environments and policies could be modified to promote proactive auditing behaviors.