Investigation of the auditors' approaches to audit risk in the independent audit process

Audit risk is the possibility of independent auditors to give a positive opinion to these statements, although the financial statements contain material misstatement. Providing reasonable assurance of independent audit depends on the level of audit risk. Therefore, in order for independent auditors to provide reasonable assurance in the financial statements, the audit risk should be kept at an acceptable low level. The main purpose of the study is to reveal the measures taken by both independent audit firms and independent auditors working in these organizations against independent audit risk, and to identify their activities to reduce the risk of independent audit. Qualitative research method was preferred in the study. By making face-to-face interviews with independent auditors, the findings were analyzed using the Atlas.ti program. In order to reduce the audit risk, firstly, independent audit firms are expected to accept customers with low structural and control risk levels, according to customer acceptance policies. However, the findings obtained from the study showed that the audit fee is at the forefront of customer acceptance of independent audit firms. Independent audit firms may agree to carry out the audit of customers who agree to pay high fees even though they are at high risk due to being among the for-profit organizations. In order to minimize the audit risk of independent audit firms; it has been determined that it takes care to create an experienced, high skepticism and professional judgment audit team for high-risk customers. As the level of risk increased, it was revealed that they conducted more detailed examinations, increased the number of tests, the number of samples, the number of evidences, and even the number of auditors. In the study, it was also concluded that the structural risk and control risk level varies according to the sector in which the customer operates, and high-scale accounts have a higher risk carrying potential. Among the risk factors of the independent audit, it has been revealed that the most important risk is the risk of finding and the most important task for reducing the risk of finding falls to the independent auditors. In this respect, it is of great importance that independent auditors are continuously trained, specialize in their fields and adhere to professional ethical principles. Another important finding obtained from the study is the existence and effectiveness of the internal control system of the audited institution and the large-scale lawsuits brought against or against the organization are among the factors affecting the audit risk level. Independent auditors of audit risk audit conducted in Turkey have suggested that the overall level between medium-high. The main reason for this was evaluated as the unstable economic structure. It was concluded that with the establishment of the UPS and the increase in the sanctions applied to the audit institutions and auditors, the level of audit risk decreased, and the reliability of the audits increased. Keywords: Independent Auditor, Independent Audit, Independent Audit Risk, Audit Risk Level, Audit Risk Elements