Investigating Ethical Factors Affecting Internal Audit Reporting Decisions

Ethical conduct is considered as one of the conditions for the survival of the internal audit profession. Decisions that are ethically ambiguous can lead to financial reporting errors. This study is the ethical factors of internal audit executive reporting that describes the internal auditor's relationship with the organization. For this purpose, the ethical method thinking model is used in which the three ethical factors of perceptions, information, and judgment based on decision-making in internal audit reporting are examined. The research tool was a questionnaire that was distributed and collected among the statistical population in 1399 after localization. The statistical population of the auditors' research was 417 members of the Iranian Association of Internal Auditors, and 200 people were selected as a statistical sample using Cochran's formula. Finally, the responses were analyzed through structural equations. The results show a two-way relationship between the internal auditor's perception of management activities and the use of information technology by the internal auditor, as well as a one-way relationship between the internal auditor's perception of management activities and judgment. Decision-making has technology with judgment and judgment with decision-making, and the relationship between judgment and decision-making is stronger than other relationships.