Audit Standard Convergence and Its Implications for Multinational Corporations

Abstract

This article asks how audit standard convergence affects multinational corporations and whether formal alignment with International Standards on Auditing produces comparable audit outcomes across jurisdictions. Using a systematic literature review of peer reviewed empirical studies published from 2020 to 2024, the study synthesizes evidence on ISA adoption and implementation, expanded auditor reporting, and cross border oversight regimes. The results show that convergence improves reporting credibility and comparability mainly when it is reinforced by strong enforcement, inspection capacity, and consistent governance practices, rather than through adoption alone. The discussion integrates findings across institutional, audit production, and disclosure perspectives to explain how convergence reshapes group audit coordination, component auditor reliance, and transparency pressures in practice. Overall, the review finds that convergence can reduce information risk for globally exposed firms, but it may also reallocate compliance effort toward group level orchestration and oversight readiness, often materially. Future research should isolate mechanism specific effects and quantify multinational cost and benefit tradeoffs.