The Role Of Auditor Competence And Auditor Independence

Abstract

A public accountant's audited financial accounts are more reliable than unaudited or
unaudited financial statements. However, in recent years, the public has questioned the
accuracy of audits produced by public accountants due to discrepancies between the
auditor's view and the actual situation of the company. Auditor expertise, independence, and
ethics all play essential roles in assuring audit quality. This is a quantitative study that
employs a survey method with purposive sampling, with the respondent criteria for each
KAP being one auditor. Data was gathered using a questionnaire instrument that was graded
on a Likert scale. This study's population consisted of auditors working at the Public
Accounting Firm (KAP) in city of Bandung with active status at the OJK, with 76 KAPs
participating and 55 responding to a questionnaire. The data was analysed using the partial
least squares (PLS) method with the assistance of the SmartPLS programme. The data
analysis results show that: (1) auditor competence has a significant positive effect on audit
quality with an original sample estimate of 0.369, a statistic of 3.594, and a significance of
0.05, (2) auditor independence has a significant positive effect on audit quality with an
original sample estimate of 0.567, a statistic of 3.191, and a significance of 0.05, and (3)
auditor independence has a significant positive effect on audit quality with an original
sample estimate of 0.567, a statistic of 3.191 (3) With an original sample estimate value of
0.288, a t-statistic of 2.445, and a significance of 0.05, auditor ethics can positively moderate
the influence of auditor competence on audit quality; however, auditor ethics cannot
moderate the influence of auditor independence on audit quality with an original sample
estimate value of -0.251, a t-statistic of 1.584, and a significance > 0.05. The practical
implication of this research is that in order to generate high audit quality, auditors must
increase their auditors' competence, independence, and ethics so that the final audit report
can be used to make the proper decision