prof. dr. Anna Gold

Full Professor, School of Business and Economics, Accounting

Full Professor, Amsterdam Business Research Institute

Personal information

Anna Gold is Professor of Auditing at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where she is affiliated with the School of Business and Economics, Department of Accounting. She is also Academic Director of the Foundation for Auditing Research (FAR) and Adjunct Professor at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). She obtained her PhD in Accounting and Auditing from the University of Amsterdam in 2004.

Her work focuses on improving audit quality and decision-making in auditing practice, combining academic research with strong engagement with regulators, audit firms, and policymakers. Through her role at FAR, she actively contributes to bridging academic research and professional practice, developing evidence-based insights to strengthen the auditing profession and its societal role.

Research

Anna Gold studies how auditors make judgments and decisions, and how these can be improved to strengthen audit quality and trust in organizations. Her research looks at how auditors interpret information, deal with uncertainty, and respond to new technologies such as AI and data analytics. Her work is highly relevant to the auditing profession, regulators, and organizations that depend on reliable financial and non-financial reporting.

Her research focuses on behavioral auditing, including professional skepticism, auditor judgment, and decision-making processes. She examines how factors such as regulation, audit inspections, error management, specialist involvement, audit committee interactions, and technological innovations influence auditor behavior and audit outcomes.

A key theme in her recent work is the impact of AI and data analytics on the auditor’s role, including how technology affects professional judgment and audit quality. She uses a combination of experimental and qualitative methods and works closely with practice through FAR and collaborations with audit firms and regulators.

Her research aims to generate insights that are both academically rigorous and practically relevant, contributing to evidence-based improvements in auditing standards, audit firm practices, and oversight.

Anna has served as Editor at The Accounting Review (TAR) and Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory (AJPT). She currently serves as Editor at Maandblad voor Accountanty en Bedrijfseconomie (MAB).

Teaching

Anna Gold teaches auditing and accounting at BSc, MSc, and PhD levels, and is actively involved in executive and professional education. Her teaching focuses on developing students’ analytical thinking, professional judgment, and ability to apply academic insights to real-world auditing challenges.

She has extensive experience in curriculum development and academic leadership. She has served as Head of the School of Accounting, currently chairs the MSc Accounting & Control programme committee, and coordinates core courses such as Advanced Auditing.

She is also deeply involved in PhD education, including coordinating the Limperg Institute PhD course in auditing and supervising multiple PhD candidates to completion. Her teaching approach emphasizes interaction, research-led education, and close connections between academia and practice.

Ancillary activities

NHH - Norwegian School of Economics | Bergen | Hoogleraar | 2016-08-02 - present
Foundation for Auditing Research | Breukelen | Directeur | 2025-09-01 - 2030-08-31

Ancillary activities are updated daily