Micro-credential course of audit expectation gap: blaming game, fix the audit misconception v2

The role of the auditor in fostering trust and integrity of audited financial statements is vital for the financial ecosystem. The main task of an auditor on financial statement audit is described in auditing standards in every jurisdiction, for example, in the International Standard of Auditing (ISA) and Malaysian Companies Act 2016 (CA 2016). Yet, people have consistently had the wrong idea about auditor roles and responsibilities. Users hold auditors accountable for business failure and financial scandals because they assume the auditor is responsible to detect fraud during the auditing process. This misunderstanding ultimately led to auditors being called before the court, like in the recent case of Serba Dinamik and 1Malaysian Development Berhad (1MDB). The Public comprehension of auditors' roles must be clarified to reduce this expectation gap and remove the misunderstanding. The best way to do this is perhaps through education. However, educating individuals about standards is never easy. Therefore, utilising the most recent development in teaching and learning, a Micro-Credential online course has been developed to allow greater information and knowledge sharing on the blaming game between the auditor and client’s management to fix the audit misconception. The objective is to clear up the misconception among public, the management of audit clients, accounting professionals and most importantly, the accounting students, who will be joining the financial market soon and be the player in the financial ecosystem. This project also promotes Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all since it is free of charge. Hopefully, this social innovation will help to foster a harmonise and sound financial system by addressing the misconception through education.