APPLICATION OF ISA 300AND AUDIT QUALITY IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ERA:STANDPOINTS OF ACCOUNTING PRACTITIONERS.

ABSTRACT: Adherence to audit standard is an imperative exercise that cannot be over-emphasised in auditengagement. The study focused on the importance of audit planning (ISA 300) in enhancing audit quality in thepandemic era from the standpoints of accounting practitioners residing in Ogun State, Nigeria. The populationof the study consists of Three Hundred (300) members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria(ICAN) that are active members of two districts out five districts in Ogun State. The sample size of OneHundred and Seventy-One (171) members was determine using Taro Yamane formula out of which Eightythree responses (83) were obtained. An electronic questionnaire was designed and sent to the sampled membersvia their e-mails and WhatsApp. The study adopted both descriptive and inferential statistical method of dataanalysis using SPSS 25.0 version. The result revealed that auditing standard is a necessity that must be adheredto by auditors at all time as there exist positive and strong statistical relationship between the application of ISA(300) and audit quality in the pandemic era with correlation coefficient p-value = 0.000 < 0.05. Therefore, thestudy suggested that in addition to measures instituted by audit firms to conduct audit exercise in the pandemicperiod, adherence to auditing standard is paramount to enhance audit quality.

Keywords: Audit Planning, Audit Quality, Covid-19 era & Professional scepticism.