Download or read book The Influence of the Sarbanes Oxley Act on Audit Quality written by Michele M. McGowan and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study uses an institutional theory perspective to examine whether significant changes to the audit work and engagement practices required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) lead to improved audit quality in nonprofit hospitals. Unlike their for-profit counterparts, nonprofit organizations have been subject to audits of internal controls over financial reporting and program compliance for decades under Circular A-133 of the Single Audit Act of 1984, as amended. Circular A-133 audits represent the primary accountability tool over the billions of grant dollars awarded annually by the federal government. Despite the enormity of these awards and the substantial informational effect of the audit reports, prior empirical research suggests that the quality of these audits is problematic. Using the archival data of nonprofit hospital Circular A-133 audits and related hand-collected financial data from IRS Form 990s, bivariate and multivariate analyses are conducted on a cross-sectional sample of 875 audits for 141 nonprofit hospitals with audits during both pre-SOX (2001-2004) and post-SOX (2008-2011) periods. Audit quality is inferred from discretionary accruals (Modified Jones model) and auditor-reported internal control deficiencies (reportable conditions and material weaknesses). The results indicate support for improved audit quality from the pre- to the post-SOX period for all measures of audit quality. The results are different for the measures of audit quality used to examine the association between audit firm size and audit quality. Non-Big 4 audit firms experienced a significant improvement in audit quality when discretionary accruals are used as a proxy for audit quality. Conversely, Big 4 audit firms experienced a significant improvement in audit quality when internal control deficiencies are proxies for audit quality. In the post-SOX period audit firms provide approximately the same level of audit quality regardless of firm size when discretionary accruals or material weaknesses are the proxy for audit quality. When reportable conditions are the proxy, non-Big 4 firms have higher audit quality than Big 4 firms post-SOX. Client characteristics, specifically hospital size and the interaction of leverage and risk, are attributable to differences in post-SOX audit quality. Finally, the study fails to support the hypothesis that large audit firms self-select low risk clients.
Download or read book Consequences of the Sarbanes Oxley Act Financial Accounting and Reporting Quality Capital Market written by Carolin Peters and published by Grin Publishing. This book was released on 2017-12-22 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Accounting and Taxes, grade: 1,7, University of Potsdam, language: English, abstract: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was introduced by President George W. Bush in the year 2002. This regulation changed disclosure and reporting requirements and aims to increase trust of the investors in capital markets again, after facing several balance and accounting scandals between the years 2000 and 2002, for example at Enron and WorldCom . The SOX affects companies with a registration at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). There are two sections that are considered having a high impact on the corporate governance of complying firms, Section 302 (SOX 302) and Section 404 (SOX 404). SOX 302 - "Corporate Responsibility for Financial Reports"- demands the executives to assess whether firms' financial statements represent the financial situation and the results of the operations and the period. Executives should design, establish and maintain internal controls. An evaluation of the effectiveness, disclosures of deficiencies concerning internal controls, frauds et cetera is necessary (SOX, 2002, Section 302). SOX 404 - "Management Assessment of Internal Controls"- extends prior requirements and demands that the company's external auditor must report on the reliability of management's assessment of internal control every fiscal year. It also requires an annual attestation by the management that evaluates the reliability of financial statements (SOX, 2002, Section 404). Especially SOX 404 is considered a cost driver of the SOX and demands significant changes in financial reporting. Aim of SOX 302 and 404 is to improve internal controls, and to reduce opportunistic behaviour of executives. Prior studies show evidence that there seem to be differences between the perceived benefits and the target effects of the SOX, for example regarding audit quality after the SOX. Furthermore, there is a discussion question
Download or read book Public Accounting Firms written by Jeanette M. Franzel and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2004-03 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following major failures in corp. financial reporting, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was enacted to protect investors through requirements intended to improve the accuracy and reliability of corp. disclosures and to restore investor confidence. The act strengthened auditor independence and improved audit quality. Mandatory audit firm rotation (setting a limit on the period of years a public accounting (PA) firm may audit a particular company's financial statements) was considered as a reform to enhance auditor independence and audit quality during the hearings that preceded the act, but it was not included in the act. This report studies the potential effects of requiring rotation of the PA firms that audit public companies registered with the SEC.
Download or read book The Sarbanes Oxley Act written by Yun Jin and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To improve corporate governance and audit work procedures, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was quickly passed. The legislation not only strengthens the internal control within the public companies, but also exerts the pressure on public accounting firms. Under strict regulations, public companies will pay higher audit fees for audit firms so that to meet new act's requirements, thus increase the companies' operating costs. Though companies' internal control will be improved a lot in post-SOX environment, many managers and experts think Act's costs may exceed its benefits. In this paper, reasons of increase of costs and benefits will be analyzed through exploration of SOX provisions.
Download or read book The Impact of SEC Comment Letters and Short Selling on the Demand for Audit Quality written by Justyna Skomra and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Section 408) requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to conduct periodic reviews of financial statements and related disclosures for publicly traded firms. The reviews are documented in the form of comment letters issued to a company's management for failure to prepare financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Short interest traders are considered to be the most sophisticated group of investors providing additional monitoring of firms in the market. In this dissertation, I examine the impact of SEC comment letters and short selling positions on the demand for audit quality by management of client firms. Prior studies have shown that comment letters provide a significant signal to SEC registrant companies and their auditors about noncompliance with GAAP and other SEC regulations. As auditors play a critical role in the filing process of a company, they also contribute to the receipt of comment letters by their clients. Additionally, they play a critical role in bridging the information gap between investors and the firm. I examine the impact of two types of monitoring mechanisms, regulatory and market-based, on the subsequent demand for audit quality by management of client firms. More specifically, I examine whether the release of the comment letter combined with short selling activity (1) influences auditor's efforts reflected in increased audit fees, (2) leads to subsequent auditor resignation/dismissal due to inability to provide demanded high quality audits, (3) triggers downward changes in discretionary accrual, (4) decreases likelihood of restatements, (5) leads to issuance of material weaknesses opinion, and lastly (6) decreases the likelihood of the PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) inspection deficiencies. Based on the sample of unique comment letters from years 2005 through 2015 and the information on the short interest positions, I find varying level of support for the tested hypothesis. Overall, the results are generally consistent across the proxies used to measure audit quality. Hence, they indicate that both monitoring mechanisms have an impact on the demand for higher quality audits. These findings are robust to controls for client and auditor characteristics.
Download or read book The Effect of Corporate Governance on Auditor Client Realignments written by Cory A. Cassell and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Events leading up to the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) increased the public's focus on corporate governance and increased regulatory scrutiny of corporate governance mechanisms. These events also contributed to a massive restructuring in the audit market which resulted in the transfer of a large number of clients from Big N to non-Big N audit firms. We extend prior research examining the determinants of auditor-client realignments by investigating the effect of corporate governance on downward (i.e., from Big N to non-Big N auditors) switching activity. We develop a corporate governance index comprised of governance characteristics that we expect auditors to find more desirable in their clients (specifically, board and audit committee independence, diligence, and expertise). The results suggest that Big N auditors consider client corporate governance mechanisms when making client portfolio decisions. Specifically, downward auditor-client realignments are more likely for clients that score lower on our corporate governance index. However, the influence of audit committee-related corporate governance components on downward auditor-client realignments decreased post-SOX. The reduced effect of audit committee-related corporate governance components is consistent with what would be expected if the audit committee-related rules imposed by SOX reduced the variation in audit committee quality across clients.
Download or read book The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 written by Shannon B. Detling and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book United States and European Union Auditor Independence Regulation written by Christiane Strohm and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-12-11 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christiane Strohm investigates the effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley-Act and the revised 8th EU-Directive on auditing. She shows that there is a difference in the communication and safeguarding effects of a regulation, depending on the precision of its wording and that safeguarding effects also depend on auditors' monetary incentives and on perceived costs of litigation.
Download or read book Sarbanes Oxley and the New Internal Auditing Rules written by Robert R. Moeller and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2004-05-10 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sarbanes-Oxley and the New Internal Auditing Rulesthoroughly and clearly explains the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, how itimpacts auditors, and how internal auditing can help with itsrequirements, such as launching an ethics and whistle-blowerprogram or performing effective internal controls reviews under theCOSO framework. With ample coverage of emerging rules that have yetto be issued and other matters subject to change, this bookoutlines fundamental blueprints of the new rules, technologicaldevelopments, and evolving trends that impact internal auditprofessionals. Order your copy today!
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 Audits of Public Companies written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by Nova Publishers. This book was released on 2008 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines (1) concentration in the market for public company audits, (2) the potential for smaller accounting firms' growth to ease market concentration, and (3) proposals that have been offered by others for easing concentration and the barriers facing smaller firms in expanding their market shares.
Download or read book Sarbanes Oxley Internal Controls written by Robert R. Moeller and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-03-31 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sarbanes-Oxley Internal Controls: Effective Auditing with AS5, CobiT, and ITIL is essential reading for professionals facing the obstacle of improving internal controls in their businesses. This timely resource provides at-your-fingertips critical compliance and internal audit best practices for today's world of SOx internal controls. Detailed and practical, this introductory handbook will help you to revitalize your business and drive greater performance.
Download or read book The Impact of Regulation on Auditor Fees written by Aloke Ghosh and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We examine changes in fees paid to auditors around the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX, 2002). Audit fees are expected to increase after SOX due to both increased audit effort and potentially increased auditors' legal liability. Our results indicate an economically large increase in audit fees following the enactment of SOX. Controlling for size of the auditor, auditor's opinion, and client characteristics, we find that audit fee levels went up approximately 74 percent in the post-SOX period. In contrast, non-audit fees declined significantly over the same period. Total fees went up during this period because the increase in audit fees offset the decline in non-audit fees. Our conclusions remain unchanged when we use audit fee change regressions. Additionally, we find that the Big 4 audit firms increased audit fees by 42 percent more than their smaller counterparts. Further, we find that while small and large audit firms discount fees on initial engagements to attract new clients for the pre-SOX period, only small audit firms continue of offer fee discounts for the post-SOX years. Our results remain robust even after a battery of sensitivity analyses.
Download or read book Auditor Fees Abnormal Fees and Audit Quality Before and after the Sarbanes Oxley Act written by Ariel J. Markelevich and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our study examines fees paid to auditors for audit and non-audit services during the period 2000 to 2003. We document a statistically significant positive association between audit fees and the absolute value of performance-adjusted discretionary accruals over all years. We also identify a significant positive association between non-audit fees and discretionary accruals in years 2000 and 2001, but no such association in later years (after passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act). This lack of association in 2002 and 2003 may be a result of legislation that limits the types of non-auditing services that auditors can provide to audit clients. To address the potential impact of fee composition and client importance on auditor independence, we extend our empirical analysis by incorporating predictions of abnormal audit and non-audit fees. We derive abnormal fees using a fee estimation model drawn from prior literature. We find evidence consistent with the view that clients with higher abnormal fees are more apt to exert influence on their auditors, which in turn may lead to a breach in auditor independence. Overall, our results are most consistent with economic bonding being the primary determinant of auditor behavior.
Download or read book Introduction to Business written by Lawrence J. Gitman and published by . This book was released on 2024-09-16 with total page 1455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction to Business covers the scope and sequence of most introductory business courses. The book provides detailed explanations in the context of core themes such as customer satisfaction, ethics, entrepreneurship, global business, and managing change. Introduction to Business includes hundreds of current business examples from a range of industries and geographic locations, which feature a variety of individuals. The outcome is a balanced approach to the theory and application of business concepts, with attention to the knowledge and skills necessary for student success in this course and beyond. This is an adaptation of Introduction to Business by OpenStax. You can access the textbook as pdf for free at openstax.org. Minor editorial changes were made to ensure a better ebook reading experience. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Download or read book The Effect of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 on the Audit Industry and Auditor Independence written by Chris Matassino and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this study is to examine the recent accounting scandals that occurred in the United States and how executives and CPAs were able to bend the rules and hide the questionable activity they were involved in for so long. The study will look specifically at what role the CPA firms played and the problem with the auditing process. The study will identify where problems occurred and how they were able to occur. Also, this study will look at the new regulations imposed on CPA firms by the new Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 and how these regulations are intended to reduce the problems this industry has been experiencing.
Download or read book Corporate Governance Audit Quality and the Sarbanes Oxley Act written by Lawrence J. Abbott and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The objective of this study is to extend the current literature related to non-audit services by investigating the area of internal audit outsourcing to the external auditor. We posit that certain types of internal audit outsourcing (i.e. those which are non-routine, and thus tend to be non-recurring in nature) are unlikely to lead to economic bonding, while offering significant potential for improvements in audit coverage and scope when provided by the external auditor. Alternatively, outsourcing routine internal audit tasks is more likely to lead to economic bonding, as well as creating disincentives for internal auditor independence. We obtain data from a survey of 219 Chief Internal Auditors and from relevant proxy statements in the year 2000, prior to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Our results are consistent with firms with strong audit committee governance being less likely to outsource routine internal auditing activities to the external auditor. The audit committee's authority to dismiss the chief internal auditor enhances this effect. However, the outsourcing of non-routine internal audit activities such as special projects and EDP consulting are not negatively related to audit committee effectiveness. Additionally, outsourcing of either type of internal audit activity to an outside service provider other than the external auditor is not related to audit committee effectiveness. Collectively, we interpret these findings as supportive of an effective audit committee's ability to monitor the sourcing of the firm's total (i.e. internal and external) audit coverage, while simultaneously exhibiting concern for external auditor independence. Our findings call into question the need for the existing restrictions on some types of internal audit outsourcing to the external auditor, particularly in light of other corporate reporting environment changes enacted by the SOX.
