SOCIAL-CULTURAL LEARNING TO IMPROVE SELF-DEFENSE MECHANISM FOR AUDITORS TO COMMUNICATE AUDIT FINDINGS

Abstract Novice auditors often meet clients with diverse socio-cultural background. In countries with multi ethnicities and customs, the situation can be even worse. Auditors who have lack of understanding on the clients’ socio-cultural background tend to face difficulty in defending the audit opinion. These phenomena have gained interest from many scholars. Therefore, this study aims to identify socio-cultural learning materials needed by auditors to improve their self-defense mechanisms when communicating audit findings. This study uses a qualitative method by conducting an in-depth interview with key informants. Triangulation technique was used to validate the findings. The results of this study show that socio-cultural learning needs to be conducted systematically, starting from the audit planning phase, collecting and evaluating audit evidence, and reporting and communicating findings phase. In the audit planning phase, auditor must understand the characteristics, i.e., socio-cultural background, of the clients. In the collecting and evaluating audit evidence stage, auditors must build communications with the clients. In this phase, auditors must know how to engage closely with the clients to prevent miscommunication. At the last stage, auditors must communicate the findings in a style where clients can accept the findings and audit opinion without reluctance. The implications of this study show that the process of developing audit learning must be understood comprehensively by auditors so that the audit findings and opinion can be accepted unconditionally.