Blockchain Technology in Accounting and Auditing: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

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FORMOSA NEWS - Semarang - Blockchain technology is rapidly transforming the global accounting and auditing landscape by offering decentralized verification, enhanced financial transparency, and automated fraud prevention. According to a landmark systematic literature review and bibliometric study published in 2026 by Dr. Totok Dewayanto from Universitas Diponegoro and Yuliati from STIE Pelita Nusantara Semarang, the integration of distributed ledger technology addresses fundamental flaws in centralized corporate recordkeeping. Published in the Formosa Journal of Computer and Information Science, the research synthesizes a decade of academic findings to show how continuous real-time auditing and automated smart contracts are reshaping modern financial practices.

Mitigating Multitrillion-Dollar Global Financial Fraud

Traditional accounting systems heavily depend on centralized databases managed by single entities. This structural design leaves corporate financial records susceptible to unauthorized manipulation, human error, and single points of system failure. These vulnerabilities contribute significantly to global financial fraud, with corporate and institutional losses exceeding $5.38 trillion annually. Blockchain technology offers an immutable, cryptographically secured, and decentralized alternative. By recording transactions across a distributed network of computers, no single party can alter historical financial entries without detection. As regulatory scrutiny intensifies worldwide, adopting blockchain-based financial infrastructures provides a scalable mechanism to maintain tamper-proof audit trails and restore public trust in corporate reporting.

Methodological Insights and Research Structure
Dr. Totok Dewayanto of Universitas Diponegoro and Yuliati of STIE Pelita Nusantara Semarang conducted an exhaustive mixed-methods investigation using a three-level analytical framework. The authors extracted bibliographic data from Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, eventually evaluating 258 Scopus-indexed peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2015 and 2024 using PRISMA 2020 guidelines. To map the intellectual evolution of the field, Dewayanto and Yuliati applied bibliometric mapping via R-Biblioshiny and constructed advanced knowledge graphs using GraphRAG methodologies. Their synthesis divided the academic landscape into four core research thematic clusters:

• Blockchain-Based Accounting Systems: Focuses on triple-entry bookkeeping paradigms and smart contract integration.
  
• Audit Transformation: Examines continuous monitoring, real-time transaction verification, and automated audit evidence generation.
  
• Fraud Detection and Prevention: Investigates automated anomaly recognition, algorithmic risk assessments, and internal controls.
  
• Regulatory and Governance Implications: Analyzes international compliance standards, legal frameworks, and corporate governance protocols.
  

Key Research Findings
The research highlights a dramatic increase in academic and industrial focus on blockchain technology, with publication output accelerating significantly after 2019. Authors from the United States, China, Australia, Italy, and the United Kingdom lead global contributions in this discipline. The key findings established by Dewayanto and Yuliati include:

• Evolution to Triple-Entry Bookkeeping: Blockchain introduces a third, cryptographically sealed record shared across transacting parties. This eliminates inter-firm reconciliation burdens and drastically reduces opportunities for fraudulent entries.
  
• Smart Contract Automation: Self-executing digital contracts automate routine accounting workflows such as milestone-based revenue recognition, asset depreciation calculations, and standard financial statement generation minimizing manual error.
  
• Shift to Continuous Auditing: Instead of relying on periodic testing of small sample datasets, auditors can perform continuous, real-time verification across 100% of transaction populations, significantly lowering overall audit risk.
  
• Thematic Integration with Emerging Tech: Research between 2022 and 2024 shows a rapid shift toward combining blockchain ledgers with Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms.
  

Real-World Impact and Industry Implications
The insights compiled by Dr. Totok Dewayanto and Yuliati carry significant real-world implications for businesses, regulatory agencies, and educational institutions. For accounting firms and enterprises, investing in permissioned blockchain infrastructure improves operational efficiency, lowers reconciliation costs, and strengthens internal risk mitigation. For regulatory authorities such as the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), establishing standardized cross-border reporting guidelines and smart contract validation protocols is critical to accelerate enterprise adoption. Furthermore, higher education institutions must modernize accounting curricula by integrating distributed ledger literacy, data analytics, and cognitive assurance techniques. Emphasizing the transformative potential of their findings, Dr. Totok Dewayanto from Universitas Diponegoro and Yuliati from STIE Pelita Nusantara Semarang noted that blockchain shifts the paradigm from retrospective assurance to automated continuous monitoring, turning accounting systems from static recordkeeping books into dynamic, tamper-proof economic networks.

Author Profiles
Dr. Totok Dewayanto, S.E., M.Si., Akt. is a senior lecturer and researcher in the Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business at Universitas Diponegoro, Indonesia. His academic expertise encompasses accounting information systems, digital auditing, corporate governance, and emerging financial technologies.
Yuliati, S.E., M.Si. is an academic researcher affiliated with STIE Pelita Nusantara Semarang, Indonesia. Her research interests focus on financial accounting, accounting technology adoption, management information systems, and corporate risk management.

Source
Totok Dewayanto, Yulianti. Blockchain Technology in Accounting and Auditing: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis. Formosa Journal of Computer and Information Science (FJCIS), Vol. 5, No. 2, Tahun 2026, Halaman 381–400
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55927/fjcis.v5i2.17267
URL: https://journal.formosapublisher.org/index.php/fjcis