The impact of blockchain technology on accounting and auditing profession

Today, technology and digitalization are changing the way of companies and sectors do business and increasing their importance every day. Blockchain technology, one of the latest developments in technology, has started to be researched and applied by many sectors and institutions. This technology, which made a name for itself with the emergence of Bitcoin and a study conducted by a person or persons named Satoshi Nakomoto in 2008, has found a place in the payment transactions and finance sector. Over time, it has been seen that this technology can be used not only for cryptocurrencies and payment transactions, but for all sectors and many projects have been developed. It is thought that blockchain technology will change the way the accounting and auditing profession does business, especially due to the inability to change records, transparency, auditability, and time stamp features. As a global ledger, the blockchain will help prepare the records and financial reporting more transparent and more accurately according to the double-entry bookkeeping in accounting. Today many tasks carried out by the auditors in the independent audit profession such as reconciliation and sample selection can be done more efficiently thanks to blockchain technology. This technology, which requires a lot of technical knowledge, requires auditors to increase their knowledge on information technologies. Although every new technology has benefits, there are also some risks. The risks to be brought by blockchain technology and at what points these risks will be affected by the accounting and auditing profession should be investigated. In order to identify these risks and to take precautions against these risks, especially internal audit departments have a big job in this regard. In this study, the effects of blockchain technology on financial accounting, independent auditing and internal audit are explained, the applications in the test phase are explained, and the studies of audit companies with global activities are included. In the study, the historical development, basic concepts and application areas of blockchain technology in different sectors are explained.