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Considering the benefits that gender diversity could bring to audit firms, especially in a time when the audit profession faces criticism and the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gender inequality gap, this study aims to explore the lived experiences of female former audit managers from a social role theory and role congruity theory perspective, to understand the factors that contributed towards their resignations.

An exploratory qualitative research approach and an interpretative phenomenological analysis design were used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior female audit managers who had resigned from Johannesburg Stock Exchange-accredited audit firms.

The female former audit managers reported their unique experiences in terms of a lack of transparent career progression discussions, audit firms being run by “old boys’ clubs” and unfair treatment linked to bias, job overload and indistinct ambitions to become audit partners.

The homogeneous sample included a small number of female participants from a limited number of audit firms.

The findings could inform audit firms how to address the factors contributing to female audit managers’ resignations and to challenge stereotypes to retain more women for promotion to audit partner-level, thereby capitalising on the benefits of a diversified management structure that could lead to higher quality audits and address gender inequality.

The formal adoption of internal auditing within the South African public sector was made compulsory by the Public Finance Management Act, No. 1 of 1999. Despite internal auditing’s primary role of adding value and assisting organisations to accomplish pre-defined strategic objectives, the increasing frequency of service delivery protests in South Africa, suggests that mandatory internal auditing may not have contributed to improving public sector performance and enhancing service delivery, as envisaged. This paper aims to identify the factors preventing internal audits from effectively contributing to improved public sector performance and service delivery.

The study adopted a sequential mixed-methods research approach. Firstly, a survey instrument was used to collect empirical data from survey respondents at South African national government departments. Secondly, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were held with a purposively selected sample of participants to explore the observations from the first phase. The observations from the first two phases were validated through an analysis of pertinent documents and records.

Despite all departments adopting internal auditing, management’s expectations of internal auditing and the services provided by the internal audit function diverged. The results suggest that the emergence of a compliance approach to organisational governance together with poor performance management skills has impaired internal auditing’s ability to effectively contribute to strategic and performance management.

Despite its South African orientation, as internal auditing is a global association and given that service delivery protests continue to occur in several countries around the world, increases the study’s international relevance. Moreover, the mandate of internal auditing requires it to add value to an organisation irrespective of its geographical location.

The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on internal auditing, particularly its adoption and implementation in the South African public sector. In addition to identifying the factors inhibiting effective internal auditing, the study advances a suggested framework for the future of internal auditing.

As Big Data is creating new underpinnings for organisations’ intellectual capital (IC) and knowledge management, this paper aims to analyse the implications of Big Data for IC accounting to provide new conceptual and practical insights about the future of IC accounting.

Based on a conceptual framework informed by decision science theory, the authors explain the factors supporting Big Data’s value and review the academic literature and practical evidence to analyse the implications of Big Data for IC accounting.

In reflecting on Big Data’s ability to supply a new value for IC and its implications for IC accounting, the authors conclude that Big Data represents a new IC asset, and this represents a rationale for a renewed wave of interest in IC accounting. IC accounting can contribute to understand the determinants of Big Data’s value, such as data quality, security and privacy issues, data visualisation and users’ interaction. In doing so, IC measurement, reporting and auditing need to keep focusing on how human capital and organisational and technical processes (structural capital) can unlock or even obstruct Big Data’s value for IC.

The topic of Big Data in IC and accounting research is in its infancy; therefore, this paper acts at a normative level. While this represents a research limitation of the study, it is also a call for future empirical studies.

Once again, practitioners and researchers need to face the challenge of avoiding the trap of IC accountingisation to make IC accounting relevant for the Big Data revolution. Within the euphoric and utopian views of the Big Data revolution, this paper contributes to enriching awareness about the practical factors underpinning Big Data’s value for IC and foster the cognitive and behavioural dynamic between data, IC information and user interaction.

The paper is relevant to prepares, users and auditors of financial statements.

This paper aims to instill a novel debate on Big Data into IC accounting research by providing new avenues for future research.

Privacy concerns and data security are changing the risks for businesses and organisations. This indicates that the accountability of all governance participants changes. This paper aims to investigate the role of external auditors within data protection practices and how their role is evolving due to the current digital ecosystem.

By surveying the literature, the authors embrace a practice-oriented perspective to explain how data protection practices emerge, exist and occur and examine the auditors’ position within data protection.

Auditors need to align their tasks to the purpose of data protection practices. Accordingly, in accessing and using data, auditors are required to engage moral judgements and follow ethical principles that go beyond their legal responsibility. Simultaneously, their accountability extends to data protection ends for instilling confidence that security risks are properly managed. Due to the changing technological conditions under, which auditors operate, the traditional auditors’ task of hearing and verifying extend to new phenomena that create risks for businesses. Thus, within data protection practices, auditors have the accountability to keep interested parties informed about data security and privacy risks, continue to transmit signals to users and instill confidence in businesses.

The normative level of the study is a research limitation, which calls for future empirical research on how Big Data and data protection is reshaping accounting and auditing practices.

This paper provides auditing standard setters and practitioners with insights into the redefinitions of auditing practices in the era of Big Data.

Recent privacy concerns at Facebook have sent warning signals across the world about the risks posed by in Big Data systems in terms of privacy, to those charged with governance of organisations. Auditors need to understand these privacy issues to better serve their clients.

This paper contributes to triggering discussions and future research on data protection and privacy in accounting and auditing research, which is an emerging, yet unresearched topic.