Assessing audit efficiency through digital financial records in non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) in Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the Importance of digital financial records on audit efficiency in NGO’s in Uganda particularly Makerere University infectious diseases institute used as a case study. The study adopted a survey-based approach to purposively collect data from 50 infectious diseases institute staff and auditors to capture their beliefs on the importance of digital financial records on audit efficiency. Data was collected using a self-administered research instrument and quality control was ensured by establishing the internal consistency of the research instrument that resulted in an overall Cronbach's reliability coefficient of 0.775. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics measures of central tendency and variability. The study results revealed that there will be promotion of environmental sustainable goals through use of digital financial records in organization’s hence leading to audit efficiency. For the challenges, lack of senior management support was identified as the main challenge by the majority of the participants, also policies on retention and disposal, data Migration, data storage were experienced (Nesmith, 2023). The researcher identified strategies which included, the need for clear data retention policies to be aligned with regulatory and acceptable accounting requirements and acquisition of user-friendly systems. The researcher suggested (1) The need to Investigate how emerging technologies such as block chain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics are affecting the efficiency of financial audits (2) The need to examine how auditors can harness these technologies to streamline audit processes and enhance audit quality and concluded with suggesting further areas where research is needed to continuously improve audit efficiency in organizations.