Title: Auditing in times of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: qualitative research in the Tunisian context

Authors: Feten Arfaoui; Ines Kammoun

Addresses: Higher Institute of Management of Tunis, 2000, Tunisia; LIGUE LR99ES24, Tunisia ' Faculty of Economics and Management of Sfax, Governance, Finance and Accounting Laboratory Tunisia, 3018, Tunisia

Abstract: Based on an exploratory study, the paper tries to shed light on the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic on the process of the auditors; work. Specifically, by conducting semi-structured interviews with 17 authorised Tunisian auditors, we explore the effect of the pandemic on five key steps: identification and assessment of the risks of material misstatement; responses to the risk assessment; auditing of accounting estimates; auditor's responsibilities regarding going concern and subsequent events; and the audit report. The results reveal that the pandemic disrupted audit work and that each step in the audit process was affected differently.

Keywords: Covid-19; audit work; financial statements; audit planning; audit risk; audit report.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAAPE.2025.144892

International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2025 Vol.21 No.1/2, pp.107 - 123

Received: 23 Sep 2021
Received in revised form: 30 May 2022
Accepted: 10 Aug 2022
Published online: 07 Mar 2025 *