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Understanding Professional Skepticism

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Our textbook defines professional skepticism as follows: Professional skepticism — a questioning mind and a critical examination of audit evidence. The appropriate level of professional skepticism varies depending upon the risks of the particular situation. (Arens, Elder, Beasley, & Jones, 2015, p. 67).
Now how I understand professional skepticism is as follows. I’ll commence with an example that is fresh in our minds. The article, which are final exam questions come from. It is written by the Wall Street Journal – (assuming that the table is part of the article and therefore the internet address below the table is how I concluded that). I did this by having a questioning mind set, postponement of judgement, motivational understanding of the …show more content…

This gives weight to the questioning mind where one acquires more evidence which will be suited for an informed decision. This also gives substance to important information as well as the possibility to sift through what is pertinent to the decision and what is inadmissible.
Motivational understanding: This is where one looks through the eye of the other party that is in question. In other words one has to put themselves into their shoes. What is motivating them? what will they say or do to make you see their point of view? What are they going to gain from this type of statement or assertion? Who will benefit from this information? Where will this affect my decision on the evidence? Why are they doing or stating this? How will they benefit from this? These are the types of question that I ask myself when I am reviewing or investigating the information at hand.
Independence: is another point that one should always keep in mind. How am I independent from the situation? Am I to familiar with the client or in this case the article? Have I made relationships with the article or person where it can lead me to draw a false conclusion or

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