Virtual auditing agents: the EDGAR agent challenge

Intelligent agents can be used as agents of organizational change. This pot ential exists in the domain of accounting audit, where much of what is curr ently done manually in batch mode could be done continuously and on-line. W e discuss the use of intelligent Internet agents as a way of changing and e xpanding audit practices in the virtual world. A quality/service framework is presented that suggests ways that accounting firms can evolve in this er a of on-line opportunities. The EDGAR Agent is presented as an example of a n intelligent Internet agent that gathers financial information. The challe nges involved in the development of the EDGAR Agent are analyzed, providing insight into the practical aspects of agent technology designed for a spec ific business domain. A test of the agent is presented, with comments and s uggestions from financial practitioners that will be integrated into the re search stream. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.