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This study aims to explore undergraduate students’ stereotypes of auditing and the influence of knowledge of the profession and its sources on the stereotype.

This study is based on a questionnaire distributed among 360 undergraduate business students at 21 higher education institutions in Spain.

The study reveals that undergraduate business students consider auditors competent and ethical. Auditing is viewed as an interesting and rigorous activity, which requires high responsibility and contributes significantly to society. Students perceive that the auditing career is difficult but contributes to professional development. The knowledge acquired through business studies influences the creation of a positive image of the profession and of auditors.

The profession could benefit from the fact that having more information about the profession improves students’ perceptions of it. The provision of auditing courses through the degree and related activities to increase the visibility of the profession during the first years of the degree could improve the auditor stereotype and enhance students’ intentions to enter this profession.

Previous studies have analyzed the image of the accounting professional as a homogeneous professional status. This study specifically addresses the image of auditors, who are at the core of the traditional accounting domain. It analyzes the influence of sources of knowledge (academic training, having familiars and media) on auditors’ stereotypes. Moreover, it provides evidence concerning the perceptions of the new generations (Gen Z).

This study explores auditors’ professional attitudes and behaviours. It tests the influence of public interest commitment, independence enforcement beliefs and organisational ethical culture on auditors’ acceptance of and engagement in practices that compromise their objectivity. The study is based on survey responses of 122 Spanish auditors. To analyse the combined effect of the variables under study, variance-based structural equation modelling (partial least squares, PLS) was employed. The results suggest that the regulatory efforts to improve auditors’ behaviours by enforcing independence rules have been internalised by auditors. The results also reinforce the need to instil the societal responsibilities of professional auditors, since auditors’ public interest commitment is related to their ethical decision making. Furthermore, this study reveals that firms’ ethical cultures influence auditors’ commitment to the public interest, as well as their ethical decision making. The study raises practical implications for auditing professionals, regulators and audit firms. Understanding auditors’ beliefs and behavioural patterns is critical to proposing mechanisms that enhance their ethical behaviours, which could ultimately enhance audit quality. The chapter contributes to the field by analysing the combined effect of the regulatory framework and organisational context on auditors’ professional values and behaviours.

The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence on underreporting of time (URT) by audit partners and the factors that drive URT at their level. In particular the study tests the relationship between URT and the following variables: pressures perceived by auditors related to audit budgets, the ethical acceptability of URT, the influence of peers and superiors on the resolution of ethical conflicts, and organisational ethical culture. A deeper analysis of URT practices is necessary, as failing to correctly report the total hours worked by audit partners poses a threat to audit quality, and can have a detrimental effect on individual auditors, audit firms, and even the auditing profession itself.

A multiple regression data analysis was conducted, based on 84 responses from Spanish audit partners working in small- and medium-sized audit firms.

The results reveal that URT is affected by the pressures perceived by auditors related to audit budgets, the ethical acceptability of URT, and the influence of peers and superiors on the resolution of ethical conflicts.

This study contributes to international literature on the organisational context of audit firms by analysing URT from the perspective of audit partners. It also has practical implications, as it focuses on understanding the beliefs and behavioural patterns of audit partners, which is critical to proposing mechanisms for avoiding dysfunctional behaviour at all levels of audit firms.