ABSTRACT
Recent audit research has explored the impact of auditors’ knowledge on various audit judgments. However, for this knowledge to influence the search for and interpretation of audit evidence, it must first be retrieved from the auditor's knowledge base. At least two organization schemes have been identified in audit research -- transaction cycle and audit objective. This study directly compares the two schemes in a preliminary analytical procedures context. Using multiple tests, the findings indicate that the inexperienced auditors and experienced managers/partners exhibit an audit objective organization scheme, while experience audit staff and seniors exhibit characteristics of both an audit objective and transaction cycle organization scheme, with neither scheme dominating. Task-specific experience appears to have little effect on knowledge organization until a significant amount of experience is gained. These results help develop an understanding of why and how particular knowledge organization schemes evolve and may assist in the development of audit training materials and decision aids that take advantage of the auditor's knowledge organization scheme.
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