Designing and Explaining a Model for Improving the Quality of Internal Audit Services in Iranian Audit Firms

Abstract

Internal audit quality is one of the important issues in the field of auditing and the capital market. Nevertheless, despite the important role of internal auditing, no comprehensive index has yet been presented for it. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to present a model for increasing commitment to the quality of internal audit services in firms based on the grounded theory approach and using the structural equation modeling technique. The present study is applied and exploratory in nature. This study was conducted using a mixed-methods research design in two qualitative and quantitative sections. The statistical population of the study in the qualitative section consisted of university faculty members, and in the quantitative section it consisted of 256 specialists in the field of auditing. Grounded theory was used to analyze the qualitative data, and structural equation modeling was used in the quantitative section. To achieve the research objectives, interview questions were designed, and ultimately 12 factors, namely independence, competence, experience, accountability, business environment, criteria related to the execution of internal audit operations, planning and methodology, information technology and knowledge of controls, access to resources, accounting knowledge, and auditing skills, together with the subcomponents related to each factor, were identified as the main factors affecting the quality of internal audit services based on the grounded theory approach. Subsequently, considering the identified indicators and determining the importance of each factor, the research hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modeling technique. The results showed that auditor competence, accounting knowledge and auditing skills, and planning and methodology had the highest coefficients of importance, respectively, in influencing the quality of internal audit activities.