Showing papers on "Audit published in 2012"

Multinationals’ Accountability on Sustainability: The Evolution of Third-Party Assurance of Sustainability Reports

Abstract: In this paper we explore how multinational corporations (MNCs) adopt assurance practices to develop and sustain organizational accountability for sustainability. Using a panel of Fortune Global 250 firms over a period of ten years, we document the diffusion patterns of third-party assurance of sustainability reports. We specifically investigate how evolving auditing practices, namely diversity of assurance standards and type of assurance providers, shape the quality of sustainability assurance statements. The results illustrate great variability in the adoption of assurance practices in the formative stages of this novel market. Our descriptive analysis indicates the relevance of external institutional pressures as well as internal resources and capabilities as underlying factors driving the adoption of assurance. Our evidence also suggests that several MNCs project a decoupled or symbolic image of accountability through assurance, thereby undermining the credibility of these verification practices. The paper contributes to the emerging literature on international accountability standards and emphasizes the need to enhance theory-based, cross-disciplinary knowledge related to auditing and accountability processes for sustainability.

Business Strategy, Financial Reporting Irregularities, and Audit Effort

Abstract: This study examines whether clients’ business strategies are a factor in determining the occurrence of financial reporting irregularities and the level of audit effort. We use the organizational strategy theory of Miles and Snow (1978, 2003) to develop a comprehensive measure of business strategy using publicly available data. We find that Miles and Snow’s Prospector strategy is more likely to be involved in financial reporting irregularities and generally requires greater audit effort. The business strategy measure also appears to capture client business risk and provides incremental explanatory power beyond the individual measures of client complexity or risk used in traditional audit fee models. We contribute to the literature by constructing a replicable business strategy measure and identifying organizational business strategy as an important ex ante determinant of financial reporting irregularities and levels of audit effort. Our results suggest that investigating how audits can be improved to reduce financial reporting irregularities among Prospector clients is an important area for audit practice and future research.

The Market for Financial Advice: An Audit Study

Abstract: Do financial advisers undo or reinforce the behavioral biases and misconceptions of their clients? We use an audit methodology where trained auditors meet with financial advisers and present different types of portfolios These portfolios reflect either biases that are in line with the financial interests of the advisers (eg, returns-chasing portfolio) or run counter to their interests (eg, a portfolio with company stock or very low-fee index funds) We document that advisers fail to de-bias their clients and often reinforce biases that are in their interests Advisers encourage returns-chasing behavior and push for actively managed funds that have higher fees, even if the client starts with a well-diversified, low-fee portfolio

Multinationals' Accountability on Sustainability: The Evolution of Third-party Assurance of Sustainability Reports

Abstract: In this article we explore how multinational corporations (MNCs) adopt assurance practices to develop and sustain organizational accountability for sustainability. Using a panel of Fortune Global 250 firms over a period of 10 years, we document the diffusion patterns of third-party assurance of sustainability reports. We specifically investigate how evolving auditing practices, namely diversity of assurance standards and type of assurance providers, shape the quality of sustainability assurance statements. The results illustrate great variability in the adoption of assurance practices in the formative stages of this novel market. Our descriptive analysis indicates the relevance of external institutional pressures as well as internal resources and capabilities as underlying factors driving the adoption of assurance. Our evidence also suggests that several MNCs project a decoupled or symbolic image of accountability through assurance, thereby undermining the credibility of these verification practices. The paper contributes to the emerging literature on international accountability standards and emphasizes the need to enhance theory-based, cross-disciplinary knowledge related to auditing and accountability processes for sustainability.

Abnormal Audit Fees and Restatements

Abstract: SUMMARY: We investigate the relationship between audit fees and subsequent financial statement restatements in the years following the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). After controlling for internal control quality, we find that abnormal audit fees are negatively associated with the likelihood that financial statements are subsequently restated. This result conflicts with prior work that finds that audit fees are positively associated with future restatements. Overall, our evidence is consistent with the notion that restatements reflect low audit effort or underestimated audit risk in the periods leading up to the restatement year.

Benford's law : applications for forensic accounting, auditing, and fraud detection

Abstract: A powerful new tool for all forensic accountants, or anyone who analyzes data that may have been altered Benford's Law gives the expected patterns of the digits in the numbers in tabulated data such as town and city populations or Madoff's fictitious portfolio returns. Those digits, in unaltered data, will not occur in equal proportions; there is a large bias towards the lower digits, so much so that nearly one-half of all numbers are expected to start with the digits 1 or 2. These patterns were originally discovered by physicist Frank Benford in the early 1930s, and have since been found to apply to all tabulated data. Mark J. Nigrini has been a pioneer in applying Benford's Law to auditing and forensic accounting, even before his groundbreaking 1999 Journal of Accountancy article introducing this useful tool to the accounting world. In Benford's Law, Nigrini shows the widespread applicability of Benford's Law and its practical uses to detect fraud, errors, and other anomalies.

Auditor-Provided Nonaudit Services and Audit Effectiveness and Efficiency: Evidence from Pre- and Post-SOX Audit Report Lags

Abstract: SUMMARY: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) effectively bars an auditor from providing nonaudit services to an audit client based on the belief that the resulting economic bonding undermines the auditor's independence and quality of the audit (U.S. House of Representatives 2002). The accounting profession has strongly debated this view and counter-argues that auditor-provided nonaudit services benefit the client. We contribute to this debate by examining the effect of auditor-provided nonaudit services on the effectiveness and efficiency of the audit. We find that higher nonaudit service fees are associated with shorter audit report lags—a potential indicator of audit efficiency—prior to the passage of SOX, but such effects dissipate after SOX. We find that discretionary accruals and financial restatements—potential indicators of audit effectiveness—do not increase when shorter audit lags occur in conjunction with high nonaudit service fees. We also find that the firms with the highest levels of nonaud...

Auditor Reporting on Going-Concern Uncertainty: A Research Synthesis

Abstract: In the following document we provide an extensive synthesis of the academic literature broadly related to reporting by auditors with respect to the issue of going-concern. Our intent is to provide information to the Public Company Oversight Board (PCAOB) that may prove to be useful in their standard-setting efforts.

Extreme Estimation Uncertainty in Fair Value Estimates: Implications for Audit Assurance

Abstract: SUMMARY: The overall complexity and estimation uncertainty inherent in financial statements have increased in recent decades; however, the related reports and services have changed very little, including the format of the balance sheet and income statement, the content in the auditor's report, and the level and nature of assurance provided on estimates. We examine estimates reported by public companies and find that fair value and other estimates based on management's subjective models and inputs contain estimation uncertainty or imprecision that is many times greater than materiality. Importantly, changes in the estimates often impact net income; consequently, the extreme estimation uncertainty also resides in measures such as earnings per share. We do not question the value audits provide to the marketplace, the importance of fair value reporting, or the ability of auditors to deploy up-to-date valuation and auditing techniques. Rather, we suggest that the convergence of relatively recent events is plac...

The Impact of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Audit Fees: Theory and Evidence

Abstract: This study examines the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on audit fees. We first build an analytical audit fee model to analyze the impact on audit fees of the change in both audit complexity and financial reporting quality brought about by IFRS adoption. We then test the model’s predictions using audit fee data from European Union countries that mandated IFRS adoption in 2005. We find that mandatory IFRS adoption has led to an increase in audit fees. We also find that the IFRS-related audit fee premium increases with the increase in audit complexity brought about by IFRS adoption, and decreases with the improvement in financial reporting quality arising from IFRS adoption. Finally, we find some evidence that the IFRS-related audit fee premium is lower in countries with stronger legal regimes. Our results are robust to a variety of sensitivity checks.

Office Size of Big 4 Auditors and Client Restatements

Abstract: Francis and Yu (2009) and Choi, Kim, Kim, and Zang (2010) report evidence that Big 4 audits are of higher quality when the engagement office is of larger size: specifically, client earnings quality is higher and auditors in larger offices are more likely to issue going concern audit reports. We extend this line of research to test if larger Big 4 offices have fewer client restatements. A client restatement provides more direct evidence of a low-quality audit than earnings quality metrics or going concern reports, because a restatement indicates the client’s auditor did not effectively enforce the correct application of GAAP at the time the original financial statements were issued. We analyze 2,557 firm-year restatements in a sample of 23,190 financial statements originally issued by U.S. firms in 2003-2008. We find that Big 4 office size is associated with fewer client restatements after controlling for innate client characteristics that may affect restatements (client size, financial performance, industry membership, non-financial measures, off-balance sheet activities, and market-related measures), and a set of controls for other auditor factors such as fees and industry expertise. The study raises important questions about the ability of smaller offices to deliver high-quality audits for SEC registrants.

Metafraud: a meta-learning framework for detecting financial fraud

Abstract: Financial fraud can have serious ramifications for the long-term sustainability of an organization, as well as adverse effects on its employees and investors, and on the economy as a whole. Several of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history involved firms that engaged in major fraud. Accordingly, there has been considerable emphasis on the development of automated approaches for detecting financial fraud. However, most methods have yielded performance results that are less than ideal. In consequence, financial fraud detection continues as an important challenge for business intelligence technologies. In light of the need for more robust identification methods, we use a design science approach to develop MetaFraud, a novel meta-learning framework for enhanced financial fraud detection. To evaluate the proposed framework, a series of experiments are conducted on a test bed encompassing thousands of legitimate and fraudulent firms. The results reveal that each component of the framework significantly contributes to its overall effectiveness. Additional experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the meta-learning framework over state-of-the-art financial fraud detection methods. Moreover, the MetaFraud framework generates confidence scores associated with each prediction that can facilitate unprecedented financial fraud detection performance and serve as a useful decision-making aid. The results have important implications for several stakeholder groups, including compliance officers, investors, audit firms, and regulators.

How Effective Is Internal Control Reporting under SOX 404? Determinants of the (Non‐)Disclosure of Existing Material Weaknesses

Abstract: We study determinants of internal control reporting decisions under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX 404) using a sample of restating firms whose original misstatements are linked to underlying control weaknesses. We find that only a minority of these firms acknowledge their existing control weaknesses during their misstatement periods, and that this proportion has declined over time. Further, the probability of reporting existing weaknesses is negatively associated with external capital needs, firm size, non-audit fees, and the presence of a large audit firm; it is positively associated with financial distress, auditor effort, previously reported control weaknesses and restatements, and recent auditor and management changes. These results provide evidence that detection and disclosure incentives play a role in whether existing material weaknesses are reported, which has implications for the effectiveness of SOX 404 in providing investors with advance warning of potential accounting problems.

Does Company Reputation Matter for Financial Reporting Quality? Evidence from Restatements*

Abstract: In this study, we explore the association between company reputation and the likelihood of a financial statement restatement (i.e., a revealed misstatement). We focus on restatements because they are one of the most visible forms of impaired financial reporting quality, and we suggest that company reputation concerns will influence the reporting process and reduce financial statement misstatements (and ultimately restatements). We proxy for company reputation using measures based on Fortune’s America’s Most Admired Companies List. For a sample of 8,081 observations from 1995 through 2009, we find that companies with higher reputation scores are less likely to misstate their financial statements after controlling for CEO tenure, corporate governance, and audit fees (a proxy for audit effort). In addition, we find that companies with higher reputations have better accruals quality. We also find that company reputation is positively associated with audit fees even after controlling for corporate governance. These results are consistent with company reputation having an important effect on financial reporting quality and with the effect of reputation being distinct from that of corporate governance.

New Political Governance in Westminster Systems: Impartial Public Administration and Management Performance at Risk

Abstract: This article examines the phenomenon of increased political pressures on governments in four Westminster systems (Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand) derived from changes in mass media and communications, increased transparency, expanded audit, increased competition in the political marketplace, and political polarization in the electorate. These pressures raise the risk to impartial public administration and management performance to the extent that governments integrate governance and campaigning, allow political staff to be a separate force in governance, politicize top public service posts, and expect public servants to be promiscuously partisan. The article concludes that New Zealand is best positioned to cope with these risks, in part because of its process for independently staffing its top public service posts. The article recommends this approach as well as the establishment of independently appointed management boards for public service departments and agencies to perform the governance of management function.

Optimizing the use of the AUDIT for alcohol screening in college students.

Abstract: The screening and brief intervention modality of treatment for at-risk college drinking is becoming increasingly popular. A key to effective implementation is use of validated screening tools. Although the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) has been validated in adult samples and is often used with college students, research has not yet established optimal cutoff scores to screen for at-risk drinking. Four hundred and one current drinkers completed computerized assessments of demographics, family history of alcohol use disorders, alcohol use history, alcohol-related problems, and general health. Of the 401 drinkers, 207 met criteria for at-risk drinking. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that the area under the ROC (AUROC) of the AUDIT was .86 (95% CI [.83, .90]). The first 3 consumption items of the AUDIT (AUDIT-C; AUROC = .89, 95% CI [.86, .92]) performed significantly better than the AUDIT in the detection of at-risk drinking in the whole sample, and specifically for females. Gender differences emerged in the optimal cutoff scores for the AUDIT-C. A total score of 7 should be used for males, and a score of 5 should be used for females. These empirical guidelines may enhance identification of at-risk drinkers in college settings.

City-level auditor industry specialization, economies of scale, and audit pricing

Abstract: We examine the effects of city-level auditor industry specialization and scale economies on audit pricing in the United States. Using a sample of Big N clients for the 2000–2007 period, and a scale measure based on percentile rankings of the number of audit clients at the city-industry level, we document significant specialization premiums and scale discounts in both the pre- and post-Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) periods. However, the effects of industry specialization and scale economies on audit pricing are highly interactive. The negative effect of city-industry scale on audit fees obtains only for clients of specialist auditors. By contrast, clients of non-specialist auditors obtain scale discounts only when they enjoy strong bargaining power, suggesting that auditors are “forced” to pass on scale economies to clients with greater bargaining power. Data Availability: Data are available from sources identified in the article.

The Effect of Workload Compression on Audit Quality

Abstract: SUMMARY: This study investigates whether workload pressures, as proxied by the audit busy season (i.e., December fiscal year-end date) and auditor workload compression (i.e., relative concentration of companies with the same fiscal year-end date in an auditor's client portfolio), affect audit quality. Using a sample of 8,384 firm-year observations during the period 2006–2009, we find that busy season companies exhibit greater magnitudes of abnormal accruals and are more likely to meet or beat certain earnings benchmarks. Additional tests show that these associations are enhanced by the degree of auditor workload compression. Prior experimental and survey research indicates that workload pressures lead to dysfunctional behaviors and lower audit quality among individual auditors. Our archival findings suggest that these pressures can transcend the quality control mechanisms of a firm, affecting quality at the audit engagement level.

The Contagion Effect of Low-Quality Audits

Abstract: We investigate if the existence of low-quality audits in an audit office indicates the presence of a contagion effect on the quality of other (concurrent) audits conducted by the office. A low-quality audit is defined as the presence of one or more clients with overstated earnings that were subsequently corrected by a downward restatement. We document that the quality of audited earnings (abnormal accruals) is lower for clients in these office-years (when the misreporting occurred) compared to a control sample of office-years with no restatements. This effect lasts for up to five subsequent years, indicating that audit firms do not immediately rectify the problems that caused contagion. We also find that an office-year with client misreporting is likely to have subsequent (new) client restatements over the next five fiscal years. Overall, the evidence suggests that certain audit offices have systematic audit quality problems and that these problems persist over time.

How Much Does IFRS Cost? IFRS Adoption and Audit Fees

Abstract: This study provides evidence of a directly observable and significant cost of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption, by examining the fees incurred by firms for the statutory audit of their financial statements at the time of transition. Using a comprehensive dataset of all publicly traded Australian companies, we quantify an economy-wide increase in the mean level of audit costs of 23 percent in the year of IFRS transition. We estimate an abnormal IFRS-related increase in audit costs in excess of 8 percent, beyond the normal yearly fee increases in the pre-IFRS period. Further analysis provides evidence that small firms incur disproportionately higher IFRS-related audit fees. We then survey auditors to construct a firm-specific measure of IFRS audit complexity. Empirical findings suggest that firms with greater exposure to audit complexity exhibit greater increases in compliance costs for the transition to IFRS. Given the renewed debate about whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should mandate IFRS for U.S. firms, our results are of timely importance.

The Impact of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Audit Fees: Theory and Evidence

Abstract: This study examines the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on audit fees. We first build an analytical audit fee model to analyze the impact on audit fees for the change in both audit complexity and financial reporting quality brought about by IFRS adoption. We then test the model's predictions using audit fee data from European Union countries that mandated IFRS adoption in 2005. We find that mandatory IFRS adoption has led to an increase in audit fees. We also find that the IFRS-related audit fee premium increases with the increase in audit complexity brought about by IFRS adoption, and decreases with the improvement in financial reporting quality arising from IFRS adoption. Finally, we find some evidence that the IFRS-related audit fee premium is lower in countries with stronger legal regimes. Our results are robust to a variety of sensitivity checks. Data availability: Data are available from public sources identified in the paper.

Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs - An empirical analysis based on energy audit data

Abstract: This paper empirically investigates the factors driving the adoption of energy-efficiency measures by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Our analyses are based on cross-sectional data from SMEs which participated in a German energy audit program between 2008 and 2010. In general, our findings appear robust to alternative model specifications and are consistent with the theoretical and still scarce empirical literature on barriers to energy efficiency in SMEs. More specifically, high investment costs, which are captured by subjective and objective proxies, appear to impede the adoption of energy-efficient measures, even if these measures are deemed profitable. Similarly, we find that lack of capital slows the adoption of energy-efficient measures, primarily for larger investments. Hence, investment subsidies or soft loans (for larger invest-ments) may help accelerating the diffusion of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs. Other barriers were not found to be statistically significant. Finally, our findings provide evidence that the quality of energy audits affects the adoption of energy-efficiency measures. Hence, effective regulation should involve quality standards for energy au-dits, templates for audit reports or mandatory monitoring of energy audits.

Audit committee effectiveness and timeliness of reporting: Indonesian evidence

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between audit committee effectiveness and timeliness of reporting. Specifically, the paper investigates whether there is any relationship between effectiveness of an audit committee and submission of audited financial statements to the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX).Design/methodology/approach – Audit committee effectiveness is measured by an index based on the framework developed by DeZoort et al. Timeliness of reporting is defined as the number of days that elapses between a company's financial year‐end and the day on which its audited financial statement is received by the IDX. The sample comprises 211 non‐financial Indonesian listed companies. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to analyse the relationship between audit committee effectiveness and timeliness of reporting.Findings – The findings show that timeliness of reporting is associated with audit committee effectiveness. This result suggests that audit committee effect...

The Audit of Fair Values and Other Estimates: The Effects of Underlying Environmental, Task, and Auditor-Specific Factors

Abstract: The rising prominence of fair values and other estimates (FVOEs) to financial reporting increases their significance to the audit. Based on inspections that report numerous deficiencies, the PCAOB is concerned that auditors are not sufficiently prepared for the challenges faced in evaluating fair value measurements. In this paper, we first analyze the possible sources for observed practice deficiencies by evaluating extant archival and experimental research. To organize our discussion, we rely on an established theoretical research framework that examines auditor judgment through an analysis of three critical and interactive factors of the judgment process — the environment, the task, and the person (Bonner 2008). We believe the framework is particularly useful in understanding judgments related to the audits of FVOEs given these areas have unique environmental and task factors such that addressing auditor characteristics alone to improve audit quality is likely to be insufficient. Second, considering the PCAOB-identified practice areas with direct implications for the audits of FVOEs, we develop and present future research lines of inquiry that take into account the important interactions among the three framework factors. We believe empirical evidence within these lines will help identify potential sources of and remedies for observed audit deficiencies.

Abnormal Audit Fee and Audit Quality

Abstract: SUMMARY: This study tests the hypotheses that below-normal audit fees signal important nuances in the balance of bargaining power between the auditor and the client, and that such power may ultimately influence audit quality. We find that audit quality, proxied by absolute discretionary accruals and meeting or beating analysts' earnings forecasts, declines as negative abnormal audit fees increase in magnitude, with the effect amplified as proxies for client bargaining power increase. We find that this effect is dampened in years following the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), suggesting that SOX was effective in enhancing auditor independence.

PCAOB Inspection Reports and Audit Quality

Abstract: With the creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), audit firm oversight shifted away from self-regulation to independent regulation. The inspections program is the central feature of the PCAOB. We examine whether PCAOB inspections are able to distinguish actual audit quality (as opposed to perceived) during the period inspected to better understand this important regulatory tool. We use three measures that proxy for actual audit quality: abnormal accruals, restatements, and the propensity to issue a going concern opinion. For triennially inspected auditors, we find that PCAOB inspections are associated with lower audit quality when the reports are seriously deficient (weaker results for deficient reports). More specifically, we find clients of triennially inspected auditors that receive a deficient or seriously deficient report are associated with significantly higher abnormal current accruals and clients of auditors that receive a seriously deficient report are associated with a greater propensity to restate. Our evidence is subject to the caveat that PCAOB reports for triennially inspected auditors do not capture the going concern aspect of audit quality. For annually inspected auditors, the results are conflicting and suggest PCAOB inspection reports do not distinguish audit quality during the period inspected for annually inspected auditors.