Background: Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) has been recently prioritized as a health problem in Iran. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is an easy-to-use diagnostic tool for excessive drinking. This study was designed to assess the validity and reliability of the Persian version of AUDIT questionnaire. Methods: Participants were 70 individuals with AUD (study group) and 70 non...

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) mandates management evaluation and independent audits of internal control effectiveness. The mandate is costly to firms but may yield benefits through lower information risk that translates into lower cost of equity. We use unaudited pre-SOX 404 disclosures and SOX 404 audit opinions to assess how changes in internal control quality affect firm risk and cost of equi...

Internal and external auditors play an increasingly important role for building up trust and confidence in today’s economic cycle. To ensure effective and efficient audits, current audit standards demand from auditors to gain an indepth understanding of the clients’ business processes. In this context, seminal research results indicate that type and number of documentation formats have a signif...

In the audit domain it is agreed that a comprehensive understanding of business processes is crucial for the effectiveness and efficiency of internal and external audits on financial reporting or regulatory compliance. However, a review of current modeling methods revealed that domain specific concepts are not comprehensively supported and only little empirical research has been performed on wh...

Since 2002, regulations have changed the landscape of internal audit as well as how many internal audit departments are viewed by senior management and the board, making it difficult for internal audit, especially small and medium departments, to maintain a role in the risk management process. Many companies are beginning to realize the benefit of using business intelligence in the risk managem...