The attitude of the auditing profession to the emerging blockchain technology and the obstacles ahead with the structural equation modeling approach

The development of accounting and auditing is tied to the development of modern technologies. Blockchain technology with potentials such as information transparency, security, asset management and smart contracts will create a very suitable opportunity for the audit profession. Just as the blockchain system is seeking to influence transaction processing and standardization in many industries, auditors should also have many effects in the field of assurance of their reports by using this technology. The purpose of this research is to identify the attitude of members of the auditing profession in using the capabilities and advantages of blockchain in auditing and its obstacles. In this regard, two basic questions were formulated. In order to answer the questions, 264 questionnaires were collected from Iranian certified public accountants. Descriptive statistics and structural equation model were used for data analysis. Considering the appropriateness of reliability, convergent validity and divergent validity of the measurement model and the meaningfulness of all paths related to the structural model and the appropriate fit of the overall model based on the goodness of fit index, the findings of the research show that the attitude of the auditing profession indicates that There is a positive attitude and general consensus that Iran will accept blockchain technology, but with more doubts and at the lowest rank, they believe that this technology will affect their work. Also, the results indicate that the areas of technology, law and auditing are the most effective obstacles in using this technology.