Students’ perceptions of the usefulness of an audit simulation

The syllabi of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants as well as the International Federation of Accountants require integration of Information Technology with the professional subjects, including Auditing, that are required to become qualified chartered accountants. Internationally there have also been calls to change the way in which Auditing is taught. Against this background an audit simulation was developed by the Accounting Department of Stellenbosch University. The audit simulation takes the students through the whole audit process, from accepting the client to the completion activities and requires students to prepare working papers. Substantive procedures focus on stock and use a database large enough to force students to make use of Information Technology. The learning objectives of the simulation are to integrate Auditing with Information Technology as well as to expose students to an audit that is as close to real life as possible in the classroom. A questionnaire was developed to test students’ perceptions on the questionnaire and this study reports on the results of this questionnaire. In general the simulation was favourably received and positively experienced. Students were of the opinion that the simulation contributed to their understanding of Auditing and made them aware of the practical application of Information Technology functionalities. The main point of criticism is that students perceive it to take too much time. The study is of general relevance to educators, as the principles and findings are applicable to a simulation in any environment and by extension to the use of case studies

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