The Impact of Determinants of Internal Audit Quality on the External Auditor's Level of Dependence on Works of Internal Audit

A Field Study

Abstract

The objective of this study is to identify the impact of determinants of internal audit quality on the external auditor's level of dependence on works of internal audit. In this sense, the researcher has adopted the Descriptive Approach, in order to address the study variables and to form a complete theoretical framework. In addition, the researcher has also depended on the Analytical Approach, in order to explore the exact impact of determinants of internal audit quality on the external auditor's level of dependence on works of internal audit.

In this context, the study community has involved a number of external auditors working within the Libyan business environment in general, e.g. the State Accounting Department, some private offices for auditing services, and the Central Bank of Libya; on the other hand, the study sample has been limited only to auditors working in Sirte City, Libya. Moreover, the study has employed the Questionnaire Form as a research tool used for data collection from the study community. That is to say, about (47) questionnaire forms were distributed on the respondents; then, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data collected from the retrieved (39) questionnaire forms.

On this basis, after completing the processes of data analysis and hypotheses testing, the study has concluded several important results. That is to say, for the external auditors under study, there is a positive impact for determinants of the internal audit quality (Objectivity and Tasks Execution Quality) on the external auditor's level of dependence on works of the internal audit. Consequently, the researcher has proposed a number of recommendations that basically aim to enhance the external auditor's level of dependence on the activities of internal auditing; for example, the different institutions and corporations shall make sure that their internal auditors are highly qualified with regard to the desired levels of competence, objectivity and tasks execution quality.