Impact of auditor characteristics on audit judgment performance in Vietnam

Vietnam is a rapidly developing economy with a unique set of audit challenges. This study focuses on independent auditors in Vietnam to determine the impact and influence of the representative factors of auditor characteristics, such as knowledge, experience, ability, and working motivation, on the auditors’ judgment. The study chose 407 auditors (juniors, seniors, managers, and partners) who worked at 86 Big 4 and non-Big 4 firms in Vietnam in 2023. Respondents were selected at random, and data were collected through the distribution of questionnaires. The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) and path analysis to examine the relationship between knowledge, experience, problem-solving ability, working motivation, and auditors’ judgment performance. The findings, derived from normalized weights, indicate that knowledge has the most significant positive influence (0.330), followed by auditor experience (0.237), and lastly, problem-solving ability (0.151). The results also show that knowledge has a partially mediating role (in the form of support) in the relationship between experience and problem-solving ability to auditors’ judgment performance. The correlation relationships in the model are all statistically significant at a 95% confidence level (p = 0.000 < 0.05). This study contributes to refining the factors influencing auditors’ judgment performance, thereby supporting auditors, regulators, and policymakers in enhancing audit quality. AcknowledgmentsThe author would like to sincerely thank the valuable contributions of Mr. (Mrs.) who participated in the semi-structured interviews and the auditors who participated in the survey at 86 Big4 and Non-Big4 auditing companies in Vietnam. Sincere thanks are also extended to the managers at the audit firms who facilitated the completion of this survey.