Download or read book Is Financial Reporting and Audit Quality Lower when Auditors Lack Independence written by Ranier Michael Robinson and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) are concerned about circumstances that threaten auditor independence based on their belief that auditor independence is essential to the efficiency of capital markets. The relationship between auditor independence and financial reporting and audit quality, have been difficult to establish because the extent of auditor independence is unobservable. Prior research has relied on proxies for auditor independence, and overall the results provided by this research are mixed. In this study, I utilize a sample of firms that switch auditors retrospectively to avoid further violation of SEC independence rules-as a more direct measure of auditor independence. Using propensity score matching and a difference-in-differences research design, I find evidence that independence violations are associated with impaired financial reporting and audit quality. Further, I find improvements in both financial reporting and audit quality subsequent to an auditor switch for independence violation firms relative to non-independence issue control firms. Overall, these results provide justification for regulators' concerns about the potential negative consequences of a lack of auditor independence on financial reporting quality and audit quality.

Download or read book The Property casualty Insurance Industry written by Coopers & Lybrand and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report reviews the key features and public policy issues regarding the property & casualty insurance industry in Canada. It begins with an overview of the business and structure of the industry: the nature and composition of the property and casualty business, the industry in the context of the Canadian financial services sector, financial structure, and regulation of the industry. It then discusses the following issues: the financial capacity of the industry to handle claims resulting from a major earthquake; the likelihood of major industry consolidation; potential changes in the industry's distribution system in the near future; and the impact of technology in general.

Download or read book Auditor Independence and Audit Quality written by Nopmanee Tepalagul and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This article presents a comprehensive review of academic research pertaining to auditor independence and audit quality. This literature review is conducted based on published articles during the period 1976-2013 in nine leading journals related to auditing. We organize our review around four main threats to auditor independence, namely, (a) client importance, (b) non-audit services, (c) auditor tenure, and (d) client affiliation with audit firms. For each of the threats, we discuss findings related to the incentives, perceptions, and behaviors of the auditor and the client, as well as the effects of each threat on the actual and perceived quality of audits and financial reports. We conclude that the mixed evidence, together with recent regulatory changes, provides opportunities for future research on auditor independence and audit quality.

Download or read book An Analysis of the Impact of Non audit Services on Financial Reporting Quality written by Denise Dickins and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Intersection of Auditor Independence Objectivity and Integrity in High risk Audit Conditions written by George Kwadwo Baah and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rich store of audit quality research and steady improvements to auditing standards over the decades have not yielded the desired impact on audit quality. While most litigations following corporate failure naming auditors as defendants tend to accuse auditors of lack of independence, objectivity and willful participation in fraud, the impact of these character dimensions on audit quality has not been fully explored. Professional accounting bodies impress upon their members to be independent in fact and in appearance, be objective and exhibit integrity in their decisions about their clients' financials statement, yet, not much is known about how independence, objectivity, and integrity impact audit quality. Secondly, not much is known about how auditors enact independence, objectivity, and integrity on an audit engagement. Also, inputs from auditors have been quite underutilized in audit quality research in recent years, yet auditors are the people who implement changes in auditing standards and regulations. This dissertation focuses on the very character dimensions that auditors tend to be accused of lacking to examine the impact of independence, objectivity, integrity, and environmental constraints on audit quality. Guided by institutional theory and the theory of negotiated order, a multi-staged, three-part sequential mixed methods study consisting of one quantitative and two qualitative studies were conducted using responses from audit managers. Survey responses from auditors in the United Kingdom and the United States were used to perform an exploratory theoretical study of the impact of Independence, Objectivity, Integrity, and Constraints on Audit Quality. The second study was conducted to identify a highly constrained business environment where the impact of Independence, Objectivity, and Integrity on Audit Quality could be validated. Following the second study, a third study was conducted to understand the effects of the institutional environment on audit quality and how auditors respond to the effects of the institutional factors. The research finds that auditors' integrity is a consistent determinant of audit quality. The positive significant impact of integrity on audit quality does not change when integrity interacts with environmental constraints. Contrary to the general notions about the importance of independence to audit quality, the research finds that independence and objectivity do not have a significant direct effect on audit quality. However, moderating independence on objectivity leads to a significant effect on audit quality. Independence strengthens the positive effect of objectivity on audit quality. But the positive impact of interacting independence and objectivity on audit quality reduces substantially when the interaction variable interacts with environmental constraints. Auditors tend not rely on their independence when the impact of environmental constraints are weak, and they tend to ignore or bend their interpretation and enactment of independence and objectivity and rather rely on their integrity when the environmental constraints are high. These findings show that agents resort to their inner core beliefs when making decisions under high-risk conditions. This dissertation makes theoretical and practical contributions to the literature. The quantitative research for the dissertation is the first known empirical analyses or validation of impact of external constraints, independence, objectivity, and integrity on audit quality using data from auditors. The research challenges the continued emphasis on independence as the core determinant of audit quality instead of the integrity of auditors. Also, study two of the dissertation is the first known study to find that aid project failure was mainly due to managerial failure though literature has blamed poor institutions, weak economies, and corruption as the culprits. Though prior audit quality studies have used responses from auditors, most recent researches in that domain have used data from sources other than auditors, yet auditors are the people who actually perform the work. The finding that auditors' perceptions about the core determinant of audit quality is integrity and not independence suggests that perhaps custodians of the profession have not focused on the fundamental character determinant of audit quality. This finding makes a contribution to theory and practice.

Download or read book Alleged Audit and Financial Reporting Failures written by Paul Lynn Walker and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Quality Financial Reporting written by Paul B. W. Miller and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2002 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text presents the concepts, principles and strategies of reporting financial and accounting information. It takes a practical approach to understanding financial reporting, why it is important and how to create and analyze financial reports so that the value of the company is clearly reported.

Download or read book Government Auditing Standards 2018 Revision written by United States Government Accountability Office and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2019-03-24 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Audits provide essential accountability and transparency over government programs. Given the current challenges facing governments and their programs, the oversight provided through auditing is more critical than ever. Government auditing provides the objective analysis and information needed to make the decisions necessary to help create a better future. The professional standards presented in this 2018 revision of Government Auditing Standards (known as the Yellow Book) provide a framework for performing high-quality audit work with competence, integrity, objectivity, and independence to provide accountability and to help improve government operations and services. These standards, commonly referred to as generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS), provide the foundation for government auditors to lead by example in the areas of independence, transparency, accountability, and quality through the audit process. This revision contains major changes from, and supersedes, the 2011 revision.

Download or read book The Economics of Audit Quality written by Benito Arrunada and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on market mechanisms which protect quality in the provision of audit services. The role of public regulation is thus situated in the context defmed by the presence of these safeguard mechanisms. The book aims to contribute to a better understanding of these market mechanisms, which helps in defining the con tent of rules and the function of regulatory bodies in facilitating and strengthening the protective operation of the market. An analysis at a more general level is provided in the three chapters making up Part 1. In the four chapters of Part 2, on the other hand, this analysis is applied to a particular problem to determine how those non-audit services often provided by auditors to their audit clients should be regulated. Finally, Chapter 8 contains a summary of the analysis and conclusions of the work. The conclusion with regard to non-audit services is that their provision generates beneficial effects in terms of costs, technical competence, professional judgment and competition and, moreover, need not prejudice auditor independence or the quality of these services. This as sessment leads, in the normative sphere, to recommending a legislative policy aimed at facilitating the development and use of safeguards provided by the free action of market forces. Regulation should thus aim to enable the parties-audit firms, self-regulatory bodies and audit clients-to discover through competitive market interaction both the most efficient mix of services and the corresponding quality safeguards, adjusting for the costs and benefits of each possibility.

Download or read book The Effects of Independent Audit Committee Member Characteristics and Auditor Independence on Financial Restatements written by Vineeta Divesh Sharma and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to reform the corporate governance mechanisms in order to improve the quality of financial reporting and thus, enhance the confidence of investors in the stock market and in the accounting profession. Despite the efforts of the SEC, financial reporting scandals continue with record numbers of financial restatements documented by the General Accounting Office. A financial restatement is a correction of a previously misstated financial statement. There is a small volume of literature examining the effects of corporate governance mechanisms on financial restatements. The results of these studies however, are mixed and possibly explained by their narrow focus and omitted variables that could influence the effectiveness of audit committees. Consequently, this study examines the effects of independent audit committee member characteristics and auditor independence on financial restatements. Specifically, this study investigates the relationship between the likelihood of financial restatements and: (1) the expertise of the independent audit committee members, (2) the expertise and diligence of the independent audit committee members, (3) the reputation of the independent audit committee members, (4) the interaction effect of expertise, diligence and reputation, (5) the tenure of the independent audit committee members, and (6) the cash compensation paid to independent audit committee members. Prior studies have not investigated some of these variables or the interaction effects of independent audit committee member characteristics on financial restatements. This study also investigates the association between auditor independence and financial restatements. The SEC alleges that an increasing number of audit failures are due to the lack of auditor independence. One of the major sources of the lack of auditor independence is the auditor's economic dependency on the client. The provision of non-audit services increases the financial reliance of the auditor on the client. As a result, the auditor may become reluctant to raise issues with the preparation of the financial statements at the risk of foregoing the lucrative non-audit services fees. The SEC believes that longer audit firm tenure can also impair auditor independence and Section 203 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act suggests periodic audit firm rotation. Therefore, auditor independence was measured as: (1) fees paid to the auditor, and (2) audit firm tenure. Finally, this study extends the prior literature by studying the interaction effects of independent audit committee member characteristics and auditor independence on financial restatements. This interaction effect is important because the external auditor and the audit committee are regarded vital governance mechanisms that interact and exchange dialogue in the performance of their respective oversight of the financial reporting process. Prior research has not investigated this important interaction effect. The sample of the study comprises 69 U.S. publicly listed companies that announced their restatement from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2002. These companies were matched with 69 non-restatement companies based on industry and size. The data for the study is derived from SEC filings such as Form 10-K and DEF 14A, and Compustat. The univariate results show that compared to restatement firms, non-restatement firms generally have effective audit committee characteristics. The audit committees of non-restatement firms have members who are experts, diligent, reputable and appropriately compensated. They also pay lower non-audit services and total fees, and have audit firms with longer tenure. The multivariate results show that after controlling for other governance structures and firm specific non-governance variables, the likelihood of financial restatements is related to independent audit committee member characteristics and auditor independence. Specifically, the likelihood of financial restatements decreases when independent audit committee members are: (1) experts, (2) experts and diligent, (3) reputable, (4) experts, diligent and reputable, and (5) appropriately compensated. The audit committee member tenure variable is insignificant. In relation to the auditor independence variables, the multivariate results show that the likelihood of financial restatements increases when the non-audit services and total fees generated by the client are higher. On the other hand, the likelihood of financial restatements decreases when audit firm tenure is longer. The empirical results of this study suggest that independent audit committees are more effective overseers of the corporate financial reporting and auditing processes when: they comprise majority experts, they meet regularly, their members are reputable, and audit committee members are appropriately compensated. On the other hand, external auditors are not deemed to be effective overseers of the corporate financial reporting process when the non-audit services and total fees generated by the client are higher but are effective when audit firm tenure is long. The results support the SEC's concerns regarding the provision of non-audit services impairing auditor independence. The results also support the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which under Section 201 prohibits external auditors from providing certain non-audit services to its audit client. Overall, these results support the regulatory efforts to increase the quality of financial reporting by enhancing the corporate governance process related to audit committees and auditor independence. However, the results do not support calls to limit the tenure of the auditor. The results of the multivariate interaction effects suggest that, after controlling for other governance structures and firm specific non-governance variables, when the non-audit services and total fees generated by the client are higher, the likelihood of financial restatements increases under conditions when the audit committee is not effective (a non expert audit committee, an audit committee that does not meet regularly, an audit committee whose members are not reputable or an audit committee that is not appropriately compensated). The implication of this result is that it provides evidence of conditions under which restatements take place. Knowledge of such conditions could aid regulators further improve the financial reporting process and corporate governance. This knowledge will support regulators in revising policies that ensure audit committee members are not only independent but also comprise other critical qualities. These improvements to the audit committee coupled with the existing regulations on the provision of non-audit services suggest a company's governance will be more effective. Overall, the results extend current knowledge in the sparse but growing literature related to financial restatements and corporate governance, and extend our understanding of the effectiveness and interaction of governance mechanisms in reducing financial restatements.

Download or read book Advances in Quantitative Analysis of Finance and Accounting written by Cheng-Few Lee and published by Center for PBBEFR & Airiti Press. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advances in Quantitative Analysis of Finance and Accounting (New Series) is an annual publication designed to disseminate developments in the quantitative analysis of finance and accounting. The publication is a forum for statistical and quantitative analyses of issues in finance and accounting as well as applications of quantitative methods to problems in financial management, financial accounting, and business management. The objective is to promote interaction between academic research in finance and accounting and applied research in the financial community and the accounting profession. The papers in this volume cover a wide range of topics including corporate finance and debt management, earnings management, equity market, auditing, option pricing theory, and interest rate theory. In this volume there are eleven chapters, five of them are corporate finance and debt management: 1. Liquidity and Adverse Selection: Evidence from the Five-or-Fewer Rule Change; 2. Changing Business Environment and the Value of Relevance of Accounting Information; 3. Pricing Risky Securities in Hidden Markov-Modulated Poisson Processes; 4. An Empirical Assessment of Alternative Dividend Expectation Models; 5. Quantitative Market Risk Disclosure, Bond Default Risk and The Cost of Debt: Why Value At Risk? There are two of the other six chapters which cover interest rate theory: 1. Positive Interest Rates and Yields: Additional Serious Considerations; 2. Collapse of Dimensionality in the Interest Rate Term Structure. The remaining four chapters cover financial analysts earnings forecasts, equity market, auditing, and option pricing theory. These four papers are: 1. Investors’ Apparent Under-weighting of Financial Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts: The Role of Share Price Scaling and Omitted Risk Factors; 2. Predicting Stock Price by Applying the Residual Income Model and Bayesian Statistics; 3. Intertemporal Associations Between Non-Audit Services and Auditors’ Tendency to Allow Discretionary Accruals; 4. Put Option Portfolio Insurance vs. Asset Allocation.

Download or read book External Auditor s Ethical Dilemma written by Willie E. Gist and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Major accounting scandals and audit failures (such as Enron and WorldCom) during the turn of the century seriously impaired the public's confidence and trust in audited financial statements. This had cast a shadow on auditor independence, integrity and professional conduct, and led to the collapse of Arthur Andersen (AA), one of the then Big-5 public accounting firms. Some have argued that auditors align their interest with that of corporate management instead of investors and the general public because audit fees are paid by management. This leads to the following question: do auditors appear to compromise their independence and align with their clients' interest rather than shareholders' interest? Our examination of audit fees charged by the Big-5 to a sample of companies investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reveals that auditors (except for AA) appear to recognize engagement risk at an increased level for SEC investigated audit clients. Accordingly, SEC investigated clients are charged higher audit fees than non-SEC investigated clients. However, AA appeared not to distinguish the engagement risk differences between its SEC investigated and non-SEC investigated clients. Results overall suggest that auditors fulfill their professional responsibility of serving the public interest by maintaining client-auditor independence and objectivity. Although the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has been implemented, misleading and fraudulent financial reporting persist, which suggests that there is room for improving audit quality. Accordingly, we provide suggestions to strengthen both audit quality and professional conduct (particularly regarding auditor independence) to enhance the public's confidence in audited financial statements.

Download or read book How Does Joint Provision of Audit and Non audit Services Affect Audit Quality and Independence written by David Gwilliam and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Financial Reporting and Auditing Under Alternative Legal Regimes written by Stephen Arthur Hillegeist and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Meta Analysis and the Accounting Literature written by Bradley Pomeroy and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We conduct a meta-analysis of the association between audit committee (AC) independence and financial reporting quality (FRQ). Although we cannot reliably aggregate results across studies in a statistical sense because of inconsistencies in defining FRQ and the absence of replication studies, quantitative review techniques yield three conclusions: (1) The use of different FRQ measures in the AC independence literature explains about half of the variation in results across studies. (2) Audit committees are more effective at enhancing audit quality (e.g., through averting going-concern reports and auditor resignations) than they are at fostering financial statement quality (e.g., by making high-quality accruals and avoiding restatements). AC independence can even reduce apparent financial statement quality by identifying the need for restatements and remedial, abnormal accruals. (3) Financial statement quality and audit quality are complementary contributors to FRQ. The statistical and methodological difficulties we encounter lead us to posit that the dearth of MA studies in accounting and auditing stems from similar difficulties in applying MA to other topics. We present evidence consistent with publication biases and perverse researcher incentives being responsible for the difficulties.

Download or read book The Joint Effects of Auditor and Audit Committee Tenure on Auditor Independence and Financial Reporting Quality written by Helen Liu and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Research in Management and Technovation written by Thi Hong Nga Nguyen and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 655 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: