The Craft of Auditing
The Stuff You Actually Need to Learn Before Graduating
(Second Edition)
©2026, 468 pages
Paperback list price: $153.95
Cognella Direct Ebook: $102.95
You save $51 (33%)
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The book’s relatable nature and carefully created pedagogy makes it an excellent resource for in-person classes, distance learning, and the flipped classroom.
The text is organized into 25 individual lessons. The opening lessons introduce students to auditing as a profession and as a business. Subsequent lessons cover the audit risk model, auditor independence requirements, and key phases of the process of auditing financial statements and internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) with audit data analytics (ADA) and other contemporary audit methods. Students learn about accounting and transaction cycles, audit quality indicators, and significant threats to auditors. Closing lessons cover concluding audit procedures, issuing audit reports, and the psychological biases that are applicable to auditing. The second edition includes corrections throughout the book and new Cognella Active Learning companion material.
The Craft of Auditing is ideal for undergraduate courses in auditing, designed to well prepare students for the realities of the profession and for graduate programs in accounting and business.
Eldar Maksymov is a full professor in the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, where he is an award-winning instructor of auditing at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He draws on his five years of audit experience at Deloitte and his extensive audit-related research to bring real-world relevance into the classroom. Dr. Maksymov holds a Ph.D. in accounting and M.S. in management from Cornell University. His research has received multiple awards, including the Wildman Medal—audit academia’s most prestigious recognition for work with significant impact on the auditing field—and has been frequently cited in financial media. His publications appear in leading peer-reviewed accounting research journals, including Journal of Accounting and Economics; Journal of Accounting Research; The Accounting Review; Contemporary Accounting Research; Accounting, Organizations and Society; Review of Accounting Studies; and Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory.
Cognella Active Learning is available for this title! Adopting instructors can provide students with dynamic online learning activities that reinforce key concepts from the text, provide engaging educational experiences, and support various learning styles.
Please note: Cognella Active Learning can be bundled for purchase with the text or posted separately. Contact us to learn about bundle discounts.
The Cognella Active Learning content for The Craft of Auditing includes:
To see a full demo, please email us and one of our adoption specialists will follow up with you.
Please note: Cognella Active Learning can be bundled for purchase with the text or posted separately. Contact us to learn about bundle discounts.
The Cognella Active Learning content for The Craft of Auditing includes:
- 28 Quizzes
- 28 Assignments
- 3 Practice and Learn Activities
- 40 Videos
To see a full demo, please email us and one of our adoption specialists will follow up with you.
Formats and Bulk Order Pricing for Confirmed Adoptions
Publisher Direct Versions — Available through the Cognella Student Store for confirmed adoptions |
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$102.95
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Publisher Direct Ebook | Publisher Direct ebooks are available in your Cognella account immediately after purchase and provide access for 180 days. Our ebooks run on VitalSource and RedShelf with perpetual/annual options available. |
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Publisher Direct Paperback | These special, discounted paperback editions are sold exclusively through the Cognella Student Store (store.cognella.com) for confirmed adoptions. They are not available through other retailers. The books are printed on demand, do not have an ISBN, and are not intended for resale, which results in savings we pass along to students. Most Publisher Direct Paperbacks also come with free, immediate access to the first 30% of the ebook and shipping included. |
| $48.95 | Standalone Cognella Active Learning | Cognella Active Learning provides dynamic online content within a custom digital learning environment. Free with purchase of textbook or ebook. |
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| $153.95 | Paperback 979-8-2997-0387-0 |
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| $153.95 | Paperback + Cognella Active Learning Code 979-8-8233-9341-6 |
Cognella Active Learning provides students with dynamic online content within a custom digital learning environment. Access codes are available with print books or ebooks. Contact us for course adoptions; not available for individual purchase. |
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| $48.95 | Standalone Cognella Active Learning Talk to a rep for ISBN details |
Cognella Active Learning provides dynamic online content within a custom digital learning environment. Does not include the ebook. Contact us for course adoptions; not available for individual purchase. |
“I have nothing but great things to say about The Craft of Auditing. Dr. Maksymov masterfully creates a new style of auditing book that is understandable, educational, and, dare I say, fun for students to read. Practically, the book encompasses the concepts that they really need to know before entering a career in audit.”
Dr. Kim Westermann, CPA, Professor of Accounting, Orfalea College of Business, California Polytechnic State University
“The Craft of Auditing: The Stuff You Actually Need to Learn Before Graduating by Eldar Maksymov is an excellent textbook and something that students will enjoy reading and learning from. It gets things right that many other texts do not such as the difference between the information the auditor receives from a lawyer on litigation versus unasserted claims. To me, it has the flavor of Horngren’s initial texts on cost accounting. The student feels they are being let it on the secrets of understanding auditing and embarking on a successful career as a new auditor. My short take is that Eldar’s auditing text is simply great! I look forward to using it in my courses, and I believe it will make the study of auditing interesting for my students.”
Douglas R. Carmichael, Ph.D., CPA, CFE, Claire and Eli Mason Professor of Accountancy, Baruch College
"It's not just a textbook, it's a conversation with a mentor."
Melissa Beran Samuelson, Ph.D., Arizona State University, W.P. Carey School of Business
Dr. Kim Westermann, CPA, Professor of Accounting, Orfalea College of Business, California Polytechnic State University
“The Craft of Auditing: The Stuff You Actually Need to Learn Before Graduating by Eldar Maksymov is an excellent textbook and something that students will enjoy reading and learning from. It gets things right that many other texts do not such as the difference between the information the auditor receives from a lawyer on litigation versus unasserted claims. To me, it has the flavor of Horngren’s initial texts on cost accounting. The student feels they are being let it on the secrets of understanding auditing and embarking on a successful career as a new auditor. My short take is that Eldar’s auditing text is simply great! I look forward to using it in my courses, and I believe it will make the study of auditing interesting for my students.”
Douglas R. Carmichael, Ph.D., CPA, CFE, Claire and Eli Mason Professor of Accountancy, Baruch College
"It's not just a textbook, it's a conversation with a mentor."
Melissa Beran Samuelson, Ph.D., Arizona State University, W.P. Carey School of Business
Read the Forbes article "New Research Sheds Light On the PCAOB's Enforcement Process," which references the study titled "Is the PCAOB enforcement approach aligned with its mandate? Perspectives of sanctioned auditors and former PCAOB enforcement staff" by Nathan Cannon, Phillip Lamoreaux, Eldar Maksymov, and Noah Myers.
Read the transcript of George R. Botic's speech at the 2025 OERA Registered Report Conference. The remarks refer to Eldar Maksymov's call to action for academics, practitioners, and regulators to unite in efforts to help strengthen our capital markets.
As of October 2025, Eldar Maksymov is ranked as the top audit research academic in the world using survey and interview methods according to the Accounting Rankings website
Read the Forbes article “Identifying and Resolving Material Misstatements in Financial Statements,” which features Eldar Maksymov’s coauthored study (with Mark Peecher, Andrew Sutherland, and Joseph Weber) “Audit Partners’ Role in Material Misstatement Resolution: Survey and Interview Evidence. The study surveys 462 audit partners to gain insight into the audit process.
Read the study "Meet the press: Survey evidence on financial journalists as information intermediaries," cowritten by Andrew C. Call, Scott A. Emett, Eldar Maksymov, and Nathan Y. Sharp and published in the Journal of Accounting and Economics.
Read the transcript of George R. Botic's speech at the 2025 OERA Registered Report Conference. The remarks refer to Eldar Maksymov's call to action for academics, practitioners, and regulators to unite in efforts to help strengthen our capital markets.
As of October 2025, Eldar Maksymov is ranked as the top audit research academic in the world using survey and interview methods according to the Accounting Rankings website
Read the Forbes article “Identifying and Resolving Material Misstatements in Financial Statements,” which features Eldar Maksymov’s coauthored study (with Mark Peecher, Andrew Sutherland, and Joseph Weber) “Audit Partners’ Role in Material Misstatement Resolution: Survey and Interview Evidence. The study surveys 462 audit partners to gain insight into the audit process.
Read the study "Meet the press: Survey evidence on financial journalists as information intermediaries," cowritten by Andrew C. Call, Scott A. Emett, Eldar Maksymov, and Nathan Y. Sharp and published in the Journal of Accounting and Economics.
