Auditoria externa: os discentes de contabilidade da UFAL, se sentem preparados para atuarem como auditor independente?

Abstract

Independent auditing plays a fundamental role in the economic activity of companies in Brazil and worldwide, increasing the confidence of investors, creditors and legislators. Accountants are professionals qualified to provide technical auditing services to assist businesspeople in decision-making. In this sense, auditing provides accountants with differentiated professional services, both from a technical and ethical perspective, capable of verifying whether an organization's financial forecasts are in compliance with accounting standards and with laws and regulatory provisions. For accounting professionals who choose to perform auditing activities, it is essential that they have a deep understanding of accounting and financial standards, such as the CPC (Accounting Pronouncements Committee) in Brazil, IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) and the relevant tax legislation, in addition to having critical skills that are important for decision-making, aiming to ensure accuracy in financial projections, guaranteeing companies the trust of the market and stakeholders. Since it is a branch of accounting that requires professionals to have more specific knowledge and skills, there are reports that indicate a shortage of these professionals in the job market. In this context, the general objective of this study will be to analyze, from the perspective of students, how the Accounting course at the Federal University of Alagoas contributes to professional training aimed at acting as an independent auditor. To achieve this objective, a qualitative survey was conducted with students of the Accounting course at the A.C. Simões Campus, whose results indicated that few students intend to work in this area and that, according to the respondents, although the contents of the courses and the extension activities are not sufficient to prepare students to act as auditors, the methodologies used by the faculty were evaluated positively, in the sense that they contribute to the development of skills for the exercise of the function of independent auditor.