Setting auditing standards: Analysis of a writing process

Abstract

This study investigates the work of actually writing auditing standards in France, a country that has not adopted the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Based on interviews, participant observation, and documentary study, I highlight the adaptation work carried out to develop French standards, with a transposition mechanism that goes far beyond simply translating ISAs. I emphasise the significant impact of legalism and the principle of hierarchy of norms. I also illustrate the writing conventions used to set standards that are clear and understandable for a wide range of stakeholders. My results show that every word counts in standard‐setting work, which makes it an iterative process involving experts in standard‐setting technique. This study opens the black box of standard‐setters' work and offers a new perspective for analysis of standard setting by considering it as a writing process.