Review desire hole and MBA bookkeeping students' learning on auditor(s)' obligations: Evidence from a state funded college in Kumasi Ashanti Region of Ghana

Abstract

Auditing has become a critical indispensable part of business and corporate life in today’s world and it is
receiving great entrenchment in national legal status of almost every nation. However, there are evidences
that suggest that users of financial statements and the public at large do not have knowledge about
auditors’ responsibilities and this has resulted in what has become known as audit expectation gap. This
study sought to investigate the level of knowledge of final year MBA (Accounting) students on auditors’
responsibilities and what auditors do vis-a-vis the companies’ code, International Standards on Auditing
as well as the professional guidelines on auditing in one of the public universities in Kumasi, the capital
town of Ashanti Region of Ghana. The study used structured self-administered questionnaire to gather
information from the final year MBA (Accounting) students. The data collected were analyzed using
descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of MS Excel package. The study revealed that the mean
knowledge of the students’ on auditors’ responsibilities was 4.25 suggesting that only 25% of the final
year MBA (Accounting) students know for sure what auditors’ responsibilities are. The study therefore
recommended that policy makers, the university education administrators and regulators such as National
Accreditation Board of Ghana together with the faculties take a closer look at Teaching and Learning of
Accountancy and business Studies especially Auditing in Higher Education. It was further suggested that
the universities review their syllabi on auditing courses to include the responsibilities, duties and roles of
auditors, so as to examine these sections regularly to encourage students to read and understand it
properly. Finally, the study proposed further research to cover most of the public universities in Ghana in
the near future