Continuous data auditing as an automation tool for business control

Business activities and business processes in the corporate world are technology-dependent. Such activities and processes drive the development of new audit techniques to investigate possible systemic failures that could affect the internal controls of companies. In this way, the need for automation of auditing tests led to the development of the concept and implementation of projects for continuous data auditing in the enterprise environment. This article evaluates the major critical issues for the construction of continuous data auditing, considering the use of information technology and computer assisted audit techniques. Four basic premises were formulated based on the theoretical foundation. From them eight propositions and eleven critical aspects were derived, which were placed in a proof of concept, through a multiple case study in the Brazilian business scenario. The main findings of this research were the critical aspects for the construction of continuous data auditing, originated in theoretical foundation and corroborated by the results of a multiple case study, which will serve as drivers for the initialization of continuous auditing projects as well as for their restructuring.