January 2020
Nongovernmental Acknowledgment Nongovernmental entities also acknowledge the value of critical thinking skills development. For instance, accounting professional societies are promoting the development of critical thinking skills, the integration of liberal arts into the accounting curriculum, and emphasizing nonquantitative topics such as ethics and communication for accounting students (McClure-Nelson, 2013). Likewise, and as previously noted, the AICPA includes strategic perspective and decision-making skills in its current competency framework. The AICPA Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 18 describes professional skepticism as a requirement for a critical assessment of evidence (AICPA, 2018c). The Institute of Internal Auditors emphasizes the usefulness of logic in its critical thinking eWorkshop training (Institute of Internal Auditors, n.d.). KPMG advertises its master’s program in Data Analytics for the necessary improvement of critical thinking skills (KPMG, n.d.). Critical thinking means investigating inconsistencies, questioning assumptions, and evaluating data from sources that may not be directly related to the subject at hand. The good news is that auditors are already trained in the concept of professional skepticism. However, in many cases during an audit, the exercise of professional skepticism only results in additional requests for data that validate the audit matter rather than contradict (Grifth, Hammersley, Kadous, &Young, 2015). Current research ofers some practical means to develop auditor critical thinking skills that include deliberative mindset interventions, case studies review, emotional intelligence activities, and the practice of metacognitive skills. For instance, studies show that by engaging, before the audit, in specifc practices that challenge the conventional approach to conducting standard audit steps, auditors can improve critical thinking skills, and, it is hoped, audit quality. Practices can include periodic exercises unrelated to the specifc audit matter in order to best prepare deliberative acuity (Grifth et al., 2015). Other means are to review case studies (Gribbin & Saini, 2016) or engage in emotional intelligence activities (Yang, Brink, &Wier, 2018). Researchers also recommend developing metacognitive skills, that is, divergent thinking that develops multiple explanations without a concern for feasibility, followed by convergent thinking that assesses the logical Practical Means to Improve Auditor Critical Thinking
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Defense ARJ, January 2020, Vol. 27No. 1 : 2-26
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