Assessment of the risk of material misstatement in an audit of financial statements

Abstract

The aim of the research is to analyze the aspects of the risk of material misstatement assessment and to identify opportunities for improvement of existing risk assessment models. An incorrect risk assessment may be a key factor leading to an audit failure, therefore the auditor's ability to identify the risk of material misstatement is one of the most important factors in determining the effectiveness of a risk-based audit. Due to the importance of risk assessment scientists paid a lot of attention to the concept of risk of material misstatement and aspects of its assessment. However, despite the fact that number of audit risk assessment models have been proposed by researchers, auditors still face difficulties in assessing the risk of material misstatement. The results of the research highlight main aspects of the risk assessment in financial audit including factors affecting the risk of material misstatement and reveal key elements for improving current risk assessment models that can be applied in developing an improved model for assessing the risk of material misstatement. Compared to previous studies, this research emphasizes the importance of risk assessment in the relation to specific risks containing fraud, accounting estimates and going concern, the uncertainty and complexity of which is also emphasized in the auditing standards.