Practicing professional skepticism in light of audit standards and legislation during the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on professional skepticism from the perspective of Jordanian external auditors. To achieve the study objectives, a well-designed questionnaire was used to collect data. Non-parametric statistics were also employed to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. The study results revealed a significant impact of the pandemic on all business activities, including business operations, business risks, and performance, consistent with (Lesmana et al., 2024). The most important finding of the study is the significant impact of the pandemic on professional skepticism in auditing, especially when activating an objective view of audit evidence, critically evaluating evidence, and being alert to any circumstances that may indicate the possibility of fraud. This is consistent with (Xu et al., 2023; Xu & Yang, 2025), who concluded that professional skepticism resembles a sense-making process influenced by numerous actions and interactions within the audit environment. Therefore, the study recommends that audit firms and regulatory bodies focus on the need to take practical steps to develop a systematic approach that regulates and manages how auditors exercise professional skepticism, particularly in the context of workplace disasters.