ABSTRACT
The greatest change in the way professional external company audits were conducted since they began was brought about by the technological revolution embodied in the electronic computer. Interestingly, as with the audit changes discussed so far, there was no overnight transformation since computers themselves were introduced by audit clients slowly over several decades and, moreover, they were preceded by mechanical data processors. One auditor interviewed noted this lack of a complete break with the past: ‘Everybody thinks the computer has arrived all of a sudden and revolutionised the thing. Way back before the [Second World] War we had punched card machines – Hollerith, Powers-Samas. You could do much the same operation. It just wasn’t so fast’ (Interview with Goodwin).
