Assessing the Influence of Auditor Independence on Stakeholder Confidence and Financial Transparency Outcomes

Posted: Jul 05, 2024

• Logan Johnson
• Logan Lee
• Logan Scott

Abstract

The concept of auditor independence has long been recognized as a cornerstone of financial reporting quality and stakeholder confidence. Traditional frameworks for assessing independence have predominantly focused on regulatory compliance, financial relationships, and overt conflicts of interest. However, these approaches often fail to capture the subtle, multidimensional nature of independence that manifests in contemporary auditing environments. The increasing complexity of business transactions, the globalization of capital markets, and the proliferation of non-financial relationships between auditors and clients have created a landscape where independence cannot be adequately assessed through binary compliance metrics alone. This research addresses critical gaps in the existing literature by proposing a comprehensive computational framework that integrates behavioral analytics, network analysis, and machine learning to provide a more nuanced assessment of auditor independence.