The Impact of Auditor's Professional Specialization on The Continuity of Economic Units: An Empirical Study

الملخص

The paper aims to identify the importance of the professional specialization of the external auditor and its role in improving the quality of the audit process by reducing the degree of risk and predicting the ability of the economic unit to continue. To achieve the objectives of the research and test its hypotheses, the five-point Likert method was used as a primary method for collecting field study data by applying it to a sample of licensed audit offices and companies and external observers working in the Iraqi environment. Furthermore, the study data were subjected to statistical analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program. As a result, the research results show the importance of the professional specialization of the external auditor in general. Additionally, the auditor plays a vital role in enhancing the audit process and ensuring compliance with the criteria for examining the continuity of economic units through analytical procedures and expressing his opinion with a level of credibility and transparency that achieves added value to that information due to its significance, on which many parties depend in making decisions. Therefore, the auditors and auditing firms must carry out the tasks of the audit process according to the principle of professional specialization because of the positive results of this study on the importance of professional specialization and its positive impact on assessing risks and predicting the continuity of economic units in the foreseeable future.