The Impact of the Auditor Client Business Risk and the Effectiveness of his Internal Control Structure on the External Auditor’s Decision to Rely on the Internal Audit Function –An Experimental Study

The main objective of this research is to study whether client business risk and the effectiveness of control structure affect the decision of the external auditor to rely on the internal audit function, while examining the impact of both the experience and auditor firm size on previous relationships. To achieve the research goal, an experimental study conducted on a sample of external auditors in the Egyptian environment, and the sample was 104 external auditors. The results indicate that there is a significant effect of the business risk and the effectiveness of the internal control structure, both of them together, and each separately on the decision of the external auditor to rely on the internal audit function, and that the external auditor’s registration in the Financial Supervision Authority and auditor firm size have a significant impact on previous relationships. An additional analysis was also conducted by adding a third modified variable, which is the qualification of the external auditor. The results showed an effect of the external auditor's qualification on the relationships. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted by changing the method of measuring the level of experience of the external auditor through the number of work years. The results showed a significant effect of the level of experience measured by the number of years on the relationships under study.