Blockchain in Accounting and Assurance: A Systematic Literature Review
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Abstract
Blockchain has been presented as a remedy for fragmented ledgers, delayed reconciliation, and weak audit trails, yet the accounting literature often moves too quickly from technical immutability to claims about trustworthy reporting. This study reviews what the technology can change, which risks it leaves intact, and where the evidence remains thin. A systematic literature review was conducted using the Consensus scholarly index and PRISMA-informed screening. Eleven keyword combinations produced 110 records; after de-duplication, screening, and eligibility assessment, 37 peer-reviewed studies published between 2017 and 7 August 2026 were included. The corpus was coded by research design, accounting function, proposed mechanism, evidential basis, and reported limitation. Six themes emerged: shared validation and triple-entry accounting; continuous assurance; audit evidence and risk; governance and privacy; professional adoption; and sustainability reporting. The review finds credible support for faster reconciliation, stronger provenance, automated controls, and broader transaction testing. It does not support the stronger proposition that an immutable ledger makes the underlying economic event true or removes the need for professional judgment. Empirical studies instead show that blockchain may increase inherent and control risk when governance, data inputs, smart contracts, or access rights are poorly designed. The article contributes a conditional value model in which accounting gains arise only when on-chain integrity is joined to reliable data origination, permission governance, interoperability, standards, and competent human oversight. The resulting agenda shifts research away from generic benefit claims toward field evidence, control testing, and institution-specific implementation.
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