The Impact of the Open Budgeting System on Improving the Audit Process with Emphasis on Underlying Factors
Keywords:
Open budgeting, Audit process, BOOST system, Financial transparency, Transaction traceabilityAbstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the open budgeting system on improving the audit process, with a particular focus on identifying and prioritizing the underlying factors affecting this relationship. In terms of objective, the research is applied, and in terms of data collection method, it is survey-based. The statistical population consisted of 2,088 experts and auditors of the Supreme Audit Court of Iran, from which a sample of 325 participants was selected using Cochran’s formula. Data were collected through a researcher-developed questionnaire and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), DEMATEL, and Fuzzy SAW techniques. The findings indicate that the implementation of the open budgeting system has a positive, direct, and statistically significant effect on the improvement of the audit process. The strongest direct relationship in the model was observed between “data security and integrity” and “audit process improvement,” with a path coefficient of 0.67. DEMATEL analysis identified “traceability of financial transactions” as the most influential underlying factor (causality index = +0.47), while Fuzzy SAW analysis ranked “trust and participation strategies” as the top strategic priority (score = 0.782). Quantitatively, the implementation of this system led to a 38% reduction in audit time, a 30% reduction in audit costs, and a 160% increase in focus on advanced analytical activities. Consequently, the open budgeting system, by enhancing transparency, traceability, standardization, and data security, is not merely a supportive tool but a strategic transformation of the audit process that elevates auditors from the traditional role of “inspector” to that of an “active data-driven analyst.” The success of this system requires simultaneous attention to technical, human, and organizational factors and strict adherence to the optimal sequence of strategy implementation.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Zaman Hasan Abdullah (Author); Alireza Farimani; Sattar Jaber Khallawy, Alimoradi Mohammad (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
