The Impact of Digitalized Internal Control Construction on Audit Effectiveness in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Main Article Content
Abstract
In the era of the digital economy, the digital transformation of small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs) is accelerating. The digital reconstruction of the internal control system has become a core lever for improving governance efficiency, while also profoundly changing the operational logic and performance of audit work. This paper aims to systematically sort out domestic and international scholarly outcomes concerning digitalized internal control and audit effectiveness, clarify core conceptual connotations, theoretical foundations, influencing mechanisms, situational heterogeneity and measurement approaches, identify research gaps targeting SMEs, and propose targeted future research directions for SME digital governance and audit practice. This paper systematically reviews domestic and international research findings related to digitalized internal control construction and audit effectiveness, and conducts a literature review from four dimensions: conceptual connotation, influence mechanism, situational characteristics, and measurement methods. The study finds that digitalized internal control affects audit efficiency and audit quality mainly through three paths: process automation, real‑time data processing, and intelligent risk management. Due to resource constraints and governance structure characteristics, SMEs face unique dilemmas in digitalized internal control construction and audit adaptation. Existing research still has deficiencies in causal identification, boundary conditions, and SME‑specific studies. Future research can further focus on the heterogeneous characteristics of SMEs, deepen the micro‑mechanism of how digitalized internal control affects audit effectiveness, and expand research on the co‑evolution of audit digital transformation and internal control construction.
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References
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