Research into the postaudit of capital projects in UK SME organizations

The main research objectives are to ascertain the state of the art of the postauditing practices of UK small/medium enterprises (SMEs) to fill a gap in the literature and to offer a sound empirical base for future discussion. We show that the reality of those that undertake postaudits differs from the perceptions of those that do not and may therefore present a learning opportunity. The level of importance of the three key objectives (control, learning, and evaluation) of a postaudit appears to be influenced by organizational structure. The reasons for not undertaking a postaudit and difficulties encountered are clearly evidenced.