SYNOPSIS This paper addresses information processing weaknesses and limitations that can impede the effective use and analysis of Big Data in an audit environment. Drawing on the literature from psychology and auditing, we present the behavioral implications Big Data has on audit judgment by addressing the issues of information overload, information relevance, pattern recognition, and ambiguity. We also discuss the challenges that auditors encounter when incorporating Big Data in audit analyses and the various analytical tools that are currently used by companies in the analysis of Big Data. The manuscript concludes by raising questions that future research might address related to utilizing Big Data in auditing.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the current state and future of auditing. Expert consensus is used as a basis to examine the current state of auditing and generate modifications both needed and likely to occur in the audit profession. This study contributes to the literature by using the Delphi method to develop predictions as to the direction of the audit industry and discuss the implications associated with these predictions. If auditors can better understand where the profession stands and where it is headed, then they can better prepare for the future. Some predictions emerging from this study relative to future audit practices include increasing automation of audit procedures, more predictive financial statements, continuous auditing of financial statements and transactions, and an increasingly global perspective regarding audit activities.

SUMMARY Audited financial statements are intended to be timely and useful in decision making. To remain a valuable and relevant service, auditing must find a way to evolve. This paper summarizes a recent study (“The Future of Audit,” Lombardi, Bloch, and Vasarhelyi [2014]), which conducts an interactive forecasting method to gain expert consensus on the current state of the auditing profession and on how the profession will evolve over the next decade. Expert consensus emerging from the study includes increasing automation of audit procedures, more predictive financial statements, continuous auditing, and maintaining a global outlook on audit transactions. Data Availability: Please contact the corresponding author for data.