Audit 5.0 in Risk and Materiality Assessment: An Ethnographic Approach

Maria C. Tavares (), Maria F. R. Almeida, José Vale and Amra Kapo
Additional contact information
Maria C. Tavares: Higher Institute for Accounting and Administration of University of Aveiro (ISCA-UA), 3810-902 Aveiro, Portugal
Maria F. R. Almeida: Higher Institute for Accounting and Administration of University of Aveiro (ISCA-UA), 3810-902 Aveiro, Portugal
José Vale: CEOS.PP—Centre for Organisational and Social Studies of Polytechnic of Porto, Porto Accounting and Business School, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4465-004 Matosinhos, Portugal
Amra Kapo: School of Economics and Business, University of Sarajevo, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

JRFM, 2025, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-25

Abstract: The historical evolution of auditing reflects an increasing complexity in organizational demands, culminating in the emergence of Audit 5.0—an approach that integrates emerging technologies with professional judgment. This study aims to analyze how technological adoption influences risk assessment and materiality determination in financial auditing within a practical, real-world context. The research, qualitative in nature, combines narrative and thematic analysis of the literature, ethnography in a professional setting, and task analysis, developed over four years of experience in a firm of Chartered Accountants. The findings reveal that although digital tools enhance efficiency and accuracy, professional judgment remains essential to ensure the ethics, reliability, and contextualization of audited information. This study contributes to the advancement of understanding regarding the complementarity between technology and the human factor, proposing paths toward more robust and digitally adapted auditing practices.

Keywords: audit; Audit 5.0; assessment; ethics; technological innovations; artificial intelligence; materiality; risk; professional judgment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C E F2 F3 G (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/8/419/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/8/419/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:18:y:2025:i:8:p:419-:d:1712263

Access Statistics for this article

JRFM is currently edited by Ms. Chelthy Cheng

More articles in JRFM from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().