Offshoring of Audit Work in Australia: Survey Evidence

Abstract

We survey 368 external audit practitioners in Australia to understand the extent and nature of offshoring external audit work. We find that offshoring is the norm amongst the Big Four firms, and that some mid-tier and small firms have also begun to offshore external audit work. Furthermore, these firms expect to double the number of audit hours performed offshore within the next two years. We find that satisfaction levels with offshored work vary considerably between firms, and this can be explained by the size of the audit firms as well as the country where the work is performed.

Keywords: offshoring, outsourcing, audit