Adoption of audit software by Small and Medium-sized Practices in East Africa (Published)
Purpose: Information technology has been implemented by organizations in East Africa with most transactions and records being digital. At end of the financial year, these organizations require their financial statements to be audited. This study was to first take stock of the level of adoption of audit software by Small and Medium-sized Practices (SMPs) in East Africa. This comes at a time where the Covid-19 pandemic has led to even further computerization as organizations implemented health directives on face-to-face contact, paperless environment and work-from-home initiatives, among others. Methodology: A questionnaire comprising seven questions were sent out to sampled firms to respond electronically via the SurveyMonkey® tool. Out of about 1310 firms, the questionnaire was sent out to a random sample of 700. Results: A total of 251 responses were received (36% of the sample). 70% of the SMPs were 1-10 years old in practice. Only one-in-four firms (25%) had adopted audit software. The four most common audit software were CaseWare®, Myaudit, PCAS and DraftWorxTM. The three major benefits from using audit software were the improvement in audit quality, audit project efficiencies and IFRS-compliant accounts. The three main challenges faced in adoption of audit software were the high costs of the software licenses, the lack of timely vendor support and the unstable/high cost of internet connectivity. The three main suggestions to increase adoption of audit software by SMPs in East Africa were to compel all the firms to adopt, to lower the cost of the software and probably develop a home-grown solution. Significance of study: The study has helped highlight the extent of adoption of audit software. It has also revealed the most common audit software in use. With this information, the NBAAT, ICPAK, ICPAU, iCPAR and OPC can develop a 3-year roadmap to facilitate the SMPs to gradually acquire the audit software. At each Annual Practitioner’s Forum, adoption of audit software and how it enables the firm’s business to grow can become a permanent topic. This can supplement the advanced Microsoft Excel® training that is being undertaken by most of the SMPs. Future research: After a 2-year period, further research can include an in-depth interview with a sample of firms that responded to determine the influence of audit software or lack thereof on their competitiveness among fellow SMPs in their respective countries.
Keywords: Audit Quality, Effectiveness, Efficiency, audit software
Assets Safeguard and Business Performance in Quoted Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria (Published)
The paper titled: Assets Safeguard and Business Performance in Quoted Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria empirically assessed the influence, safeguarding corporate assets exerts on business performance. The empirical referents in focus are efficiency, effectiveness and profitability. The research design adopted is the survey. Data was collected within a framework sample size of thirty-two (32) quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Pearson product moment correlation and QSR Nvivo were adopted in analyzing the quantitative and qualitative data. The findings show that assets safeguard has positive and significant influence on business performance. The study conclude that safeguard of manufacturing firms assets enhances their performance through profitability operational effectiveness and resource utilization efficiency. It is therefore recommended that manufacturing firms should be conscious of their assets safeguard mechanism through proper identification and accountability of assets of all kinds to minimize wastage, losses and ownership conversion by persons of such tendencies.
Keywords: Assets Safeguard, Business Profitability, Effectiveness, Efficiency
Process Control and Business Performance in Quoted Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria (Published)
This paper seeks to examine the influence of process control on business performance of quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria. Survey research design was adopted. Three (3) tentative assertions, hypotheses were formulated. The sample size was thirty-two (32) quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria. Pearson product moment correlation and QSR-Nvivo aided the quantitative and qualitative data analysis respectively. The study findings indicated that process control has very positive relationship with business performance. In conclusion, profitability, effectiveness and efficiency adoption as proxies of business performance has been proven to be largely a function of process control. The study recommends that manufacturing firms should increase the control measure in the work process to ensure conformity and avoidance of deviations, in order to achieve higher performance in their operations.
Keywords: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Process control, Profitability, Triangulation