ASSESSING THE AUDITOR'S WORKLOAD THROUGH PROFESSIONAL SKEPTICISM

Abstract

Preparing financial reports is not just information to convey the condition of the Company in carrying out each activity, but also assesses the auditor's success in conveying honestly and responsibly the condition of the Company. However, sometimes this is not entirely the case, because auditors face many limitations, one of the studies is the auditor's workload, the increasing auditor's workload results in negative emotions felt by the auditor. This research aims to examine the auditor's workload through the auditor's professional skepticism. The population used was 102 auditors who work at the representative financial audit agency of North Sumatra province. The sampling technique was purposive sampling to meet the researcher's needs, so the sample was 20. The data collection technique used a Likert scale questionnaire with a total of 6 statements and the data analysis technique used was factor analysis with the variable number of auditor employees (P1); Audit findings reported by the auditor (P2); excessive working hours (P3); dysfunctional auditor behavior (P4); Excessive work demands (P5) and the auditor's ability to find fraud decreased (P6) which were analyzed using Factor Analysis (KMO) via SPSS IBM 27 for Windows. The results obtained show that 3 factors result in the auditor's workload influencing professional skepticism, including (a) Behavioral workload which includes audit findings reported by the auditor; excessive working hours and dysfunctional auditor behavior; (b) Workload for completing an audit which includes excessive work demands and (c) Limited Auditor Workload including the number of auditors employees and the auditor's ability to find fraud decreased. Thus, it can be concluded that the quality of the report is also determined by the auditor's workload in conveying the truth and criticizing findings in accordance with the reporting framework and financial reporting standards.