The auditor : Creating a concept of the auditor through auditors' own perceptions and understandings of their work in relation to boundary-setting forces

Sammanfattning: The overall purpose of this licentiate dissertation is to advance our understanding of the auditor by creating a concept of the auditor through focusing on auditors' own perceptions and understandings of their work in relation to boundary-setting forces. The audit profession, the audit firm, the client, society, regulations, and the market are all boundary-setting forces that influence the work of auditors and how auditors perceive and understand their work. The concept of the auditor consists of who the auditor is and what the auditor does; this concept is shaped interactively by the boundary-setting forces, that exist in the auditors’ environment and by the auditors themselves, through the view auditors have of themselves and their environment. The boundary-setting forces have in recent decades undergone significant and rapid changes; for example, increased commercialization as well as significant regulatory changes, which are expected to have influenced the concept of the auditor. The concept of the auditor therefor needs to be explored to understand who today’s auditor is and what today's auditor does.This licentiate dissertation consists of three appended papers and a comprehensive summary. The appended papers constitute the basis for discussing who the auditor is and what the auditor does, thereby contributing to the concept of the auditor. This dissertation uses boundaries in exploring the concept of the auditor, since it is when the auditor encounters the boundaries of being an auditor that the auditor’s conception of an auditor becomes clear. This dissertation has a mixed-methods design based on survey and interview data.The results of this dissertation show that there are several characteristics that define who the auditor is. The auditor:is highly driven by professional valuesis less driven by business valuesis genuinely interested in auditor workis resistant to stress, heavy workload, and work–life balance issuesis admiring the audit profession and perceiving it as highly professionalis perceiving professional values in adding value to the client, i.e., in the business activitiesis enjoying adding value to the clientis more motivated by contributing to the client than to societyhas high social skills and broad knowledgeThe results of this dissertation also show that the work of the auditor in the "grey area" between auditing and consulting comprises several activities. The auditor:adds value to the client by being available and engaged, by providing mental support and family mediation, by informing and discussing, by giving tips, advice, and suggestions, by explaining, answering questions, raising questions, and questioning, and by customizing, operating, developing, and contributing expertise to the clientconducts a wide range of services, also related to the private and personal matters of the clienthas counselling, pedagogical, coaching and/or developmental roles