Influence of Skeptical Mindset and Skeptical Attitude on Auditor Performance: The Significant Difference of Auditor Firm Size

Poor audit work resulting in insufficient audit evidence is a worrying issue internationally and locally. It is also evident that auditors from big and small firms have expressed questionable opinions based on inadequate audit evidence and misstatement of financial statements, overlooking misstatements, non-adherence to standards and requirements, and failure to obtain enough audit evidence. This research therefore assessed the influence of skeptical mindset and attitude on auditor performance: the mean difference of auditor for size. This study used a quantitative, explanatory, and cross-sectional survey research design. A stratified sampling technique was employed to administer 310 copies of questionnaires and 285 were retrieved. Data collected were analyzed through correlation and regression. The results revealed that sceptical mindset and attitude have a significant positive correlation with auditor performance and can highly predict the performance of auditors. It is further revealed that the mean difference of auditor firm size has a significant influence on auditor performance. This study provides insight into the need to maintain professional scepticism at all levels of auditing and the need to continuously train auditors to have a skeptical mindset and exhibit sceptical attitude in the discharge of their work. This research finding also supports the need for smaller auditing firms to merge to be able to pool their resources together in order to attract and retain experienced auditors and big clients.