Evaluating the Performance Quality of the External Auditor Under the Requirements of International Auditing Standards (ISA220-ISA700) An applied Research in A number of Auditing Offices Operating in Erbil- Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Abstract

The work of the external audit is to provide services for auditing the financial statements and expressing an opinion on the financial statements in the economic units، and as it is known، the parties benefiting from the financial statements are many and many، such as investors، lenders، shareholders، and the government. In order to ensure the correctness and fairness of the financial statements، they must be audited by a person or an auditing institution، and this is what is called an external audit. Here، the importance of external auditing appears in the completion of high-quality and superior work to give reassurance to the parties using the financial statements. The research aims to define the requirements and scope of international auditing standards No. (220) and (700)، as well as assessing the quality of the professional performance of the external auditor by applying to five auditing offices operating in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Erbil to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the external auditor in the audit process By knowing the extent of his commitment in professional performance and in preparing the final report، with the requirements of international auditing standards No. (220 and 700). The research reached a number of conclusions، the most important of which is the following: The highest audit quality indicator was achieved by the Account Control Office No. (5) in accordance with the requirements of standards (220) and (700). And the lowest audit quality indicator in relation to compliance with the requirements of the standard (220) was achieved by the Account Control Office No. (1) As for the lowest audit quality indicator in relation to compliance with the requirements of the standard (700)، it was achieved by the Audit Office No. (2).. The most important recommendation is the researchers' recommendation to adopt international auditing standards in general، as it adds credibility to financial reports and contributes to supporting and achieving quality in the audit process.