A Conceptual Model for Blockchain-based Auditing Information System

Blockchain is viewed as one of the most promising and disruptive inventions and is considered to have the potential to significantly change current auditing profession and reshape the business ecosystem. With the advancement of blockchain, it has been concerned in some studies that auditing could be significantly impacted and eventually replaced. Meanwhile, another viewpoint argues that blockchain technology would push the existing auditing industry to a new direction rather than eliminating the need for auditing in the immediate future. This discussion can hardly be settled without evaluation, however, studies exploring how blockchain technology can be employed in auditing practice or how continuous auditing can be conducted using blockchain technology are limited. This paper analyses the impact of blockchain features on existing audit processes and discusses the possibility of applying blockchain characteristics including immutability, distributed ledger, real-time settlement to the auditing domain. Based on the systematic analysis, this study proposes a conceptual model for blockchain-based auditing information system, which provides solutions to employ blockchain technology in auditing profession, significantly improving the efficiency and effectiveness of auditing and promoting the transformation of the auditing paradigm to real-time, continuous and intelligent auditing.