Out of Office: Examining Whether Remote Auditing Can Affect Audit Quality

With a hybrid work model becoming increasingly common, we investigate whether remote auditing can lead to a greater likelihood for auditors to exhibit reduced audit quality (RAQ) behaviour. Further, we look at whether time pressure can have a similar result, and when considered together, whether auditors will be most likely to compromise audit quality when working remotely and experiencing high time pressure. In line with prior literature, we find that auditors facing high (vs. low) time pressure are more likely to engage in RAQ behaviour, consistent with their motivation to speed up testing. More importantly, we find auditors working remotely are more likely to engage in RAQ behaviour than their counterparts who are working non-remotely. This investigation provides important insights towards informing researchers, regulators and practitioners of the negative implications of remote work on audit quality.