Auditors’ Responsibility in Detecting and Mitigating Creative Accounting Practices: Case Study of a Sample of Professionals in Ouargla, Algeria

Abstract

The study aimed to clarify the role of auditors in assuming their responsibility to detect and limit creative accounting practices in the Algerian context by assessing the extent to which auditors adhere to their professional responsibilities and their ability to identify and exclude creative accounting practices from financial statements. The field study relied on the questionnaire tool, through distributing a survey form to a sample consisting of auditors and professionals in the city of Ouargla. The sample included auditors, accounting experts, and certified accountants. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program was also used to process and analyze the data collected based on the opinions of the respondents. The study reached several conclusions, the most important of which is that auditors do play a role in reducing and controlling creative accounting practices by adhering to the required professional care. This necessitates the exercise of professional skepticism, caution, and the exertion of due professional diligence to achieve the objectives of the audit.