Audit expectation gap. A comparative study Romania-Spain

Abstract

This article is based on an empirical study of the role, utility and independence of the financial audit. The statistical sample consists of three groups involved in the audit: auditors, financial managers and users of the audited financial information in Romania and Spain. The results of the questionnaire have been processed with the help of the Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney tests, and we have tested the hypothesis that there are differences between the expectations of the three groups analyzed in Spain and Romania, in terms of functionality, usefulness and independence of the current practice of financial audit. We have conducted a complete interpretation and have proposed a model of differences of perspectives on and expectations of the role, utility and independence of the financial audit. From this model we have determined the differences between perspectives and expectations, indicating the causes that lead to the existence of these differences. At the end of the study we have proposed solutions that will lead to closing the gap in expectations between the three groups.