Abstract:
Increasing number of financial issues and corruptions in the public sector and
allegations on Auditor General Department inspired to investigate whether
there is an Audit Expectation Gap (AEG) between public sector auditors and
the users of audit reports in Sri Lanka. This is a mixed research method focused
mainly on quantitative approach followed by qualitative approach. The study
design is primarily a descriptive survey. The sample was total of 42
respondents including 21 auditors of Auditor General Department and 21
members of Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) of three provincial councils.
The data was collected using pre-tested questionnaires developed based on the
accountability theoretical framework and six audit concepts adopted from the
literature. The same questionnaire was administered to auditors and the users
to explore the AEG in public sector. In addition, interviews were conducted.
The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to analyze data. The study found that
there were statistical differences in perception between public sector auditors
and the report users on 9 variables out of 25 variables. This revealed that the
audit reports do not fully address the requirements of the users and some
auditors have not identified their role and the skills to be equipped with to
cater the needs of the users. Moreover, it showed that some users have over
expectation on these reports. This is a pioneering study contributes to the
public auditing literature about the existence of AEG in Sri Lankan context
using mix approach. The findings could assist the Auditor General, auditors and
members of COPA to evaluate their roles and to understand what they must
expect from each other to be accountable for their duties and roles.
