The Application of Blockchain in Auditing

Abstract

As one of the most cutting-edge technologies in Fintech, the application of blockchain has been prevailing across a series of industries. By adopting literature research, this paper analyzes the origin, characteristics and working principle of blockchain. According to the features and requirements of traditional auditing, this paper finds the superiority of blockchain technology, for example, distributed ledger, consensus mechanism and timestamp could facilitate auditing in three ways: (1)improve timeliness of auditing and reduce auditing cost; (2)ensure data integrity and realize automatic auditing; and (3)realize pre-warning and real-time supervision to reduce auditing risk. However, although blockchain has brought unprecedented opportunities to the development and reform of audit industry, the blockchain technology still faces a number of challenges, such as data security, talent and technology support, industry and recognition promotion, and practical application and execution. Concerning these limitations, this paper looks forward to further research field which could contribute to the upcoming improvement of blockchain auditing.