The impact of Enterprise systems on audit practices in the Netherlands

Enterprise systems have changed the business environment. Auditors have to deal with this changing business environment, because the outcome of their audits is used by external stakeholders and they expect a high quality outcome to base their decisions on. Auditors will need to focus on the process, which is the enterprise system, to be able to conduct a reliable audit. To be able to focus on the process general auditors need information technology knowledge. This research focuses on the impact of enterprise systems on audit practices in the Netherlands, on how the audit method is changed and can be improved, and what the influence of enterprise systems is on an auditor’s career. This research conducted a qualitative case study. The epistemological stance is a combination of interpretive and critical. The data for the cases was gathered by conducting personal interviews and observing the auditors in their real environment. Afterwards the cases where analyzed using hermeneutics.