| Abstract: | This study considered the impact of three different methods of documenting internal accounting control systems (internal control questionnaire, flowchart, and narrative memorandum) upon the quantity and type of data collected during the auditor's preliminary review of internal control. The effect of experience upon data collection was also considered. Fifty-five auditors participated in a laboratory experiment in which they collected data about a client's control system, and recorded it in one of the three formats. Results indicated that subjects using an internal control questionnaire collected far more data than did other subjects. When using a questionnaire or flowchart, seniors collected more data than less experienced auditors. The type of data collected was shown to be associated strongly with documentation format but not with experience. Evidence that selective perception was induced by documentation format was particularly strong for the questionnaire subjects. |
