现代风险导向审计运用现状及对策——以从事证券类业务审计的会计师事务所为例

《中国注册会计师执业准则》及其应用指南已经在国内会计师事务所实施七年多,近期证券市场财务舞弊频繁出现,会计师事务所如何规避证券业务财务舞弊的发生,取决于会计师事务所及执业人员自身能否全面的贯彻《中国注册会计师执业准则》的现代风险导向审计理念。因此在了解目前国内会计师事务所从事证券业务贯彻现代风险导向审计理念的现状是确保现代风险导向审计在国内会计师事务所全面执行的有效保障。     

现代风险导向审计运用现状及对策——以从事证券类业务审计的会计师事务所为例

《中国注册会计师执业准则》及其应用指南已经在国内会计师事务所实施七年多,近期证券市场财务舞弊频繁出现,会计师事务所如何规避证券业务财务舞弊的发生,取决于会计师事务所及执业人员自身能否全面的贯彻《中国注册会计师执业准则》的现代风险导向审计理念.因此在了解目前国内会计师事务所从事证券业务贯彻现代风险导向审计理念的现状是确保现代风险导向审计在国内会计师事务所全面执行的有效保障.     

小型企业风险导向审计初探

中国注册会计师执业准则实施将近两年,风险导向审计对防范审计风险、提高审计质量起到了良好的推动作用,特别是在上市公司、国有大中型企业等较大型企业审计方面效果尤其明显。但是,在小型企业审计中如何贯彻风险导向审计理念、如何运用风险导向审计准则,却一直困扰着广大中小型会计师事务所。本文通过分析小型企业的特点,结合小型企业审计实务,对小型企业风险导向审计如何开展进行一些探讨,与同行交流。     

风险导向审计下的成本误区

"组织环境与错弊风险"的必然联系催生了"风险导向审计",我国会计师事务所自2007年1月全面进入"风险导向审计"。作为自主经营、自负盈亏的市场主体,会计师事务所认为"风险导向审计"的质量要求高了、审计程序增加了、审计底稿复杂了,由此导致的审计成本大幅度压缩了利润空间,从而对"风险导向审计"产生观念上的抵制。本文针对风险导向审计下的成本误区进行分析,提出风险导向下的审计成本是必要质量下的审计成本,强调在一定审计风险成本的前提下寻求降低审计工作成本的新途径,包括审计工作各阶段成本的构成、审计程序的选择、审计底稿的运用等方面,为会计师事务所有效实施"风险导向审计"提供参考。     

浅议现代风险导向审计在我国本土会计师事务所的运用

现代风险导向审计作为一种新的审计模式,已在发达国家的审计实践中得到了普遍使用。我国从2007年起在全国本土会计师事务所开始执行了现代风险导向审计。本文首先对现代风险导向审计进行概述,然后分析现代风险导向审计在我国本土会计师事务所的运用中存在的问题,最后提出了相应的对策。     

我国会计师事务所现代风险导向审计的应用探讨

为顺应我国市场经济深化和会计准则国家化趋势的需要,我国进一步完善了会计准则,48项新准则2007年起在上市公司全面实施。这标志着现代风险导向审计替代传统审计开始在我国所有企业财务报表审计中得到贯彻实行。我国中小会计师事务所如何在具体的审计业务中落实风险导向审计以控制审计风险成为一个重要课题。本文对风险导向审计进行了简要介绍,分析了我国中小会计师事务所贯彻风险导向审计的现状以及存在的问题及原因,最后提出了加强风险导向审计在我国中小会计师事务所应用的几点建议。     

我国会计师事务所现代风险导向审计的应用探讨

为顺应我国市场经济深化和会计准则国家化趋势的需要,我国进一步完善了会计准则,48项新准则2007年起在上市公司全面实施。这标志着现代风险导向审计替代传统审计开始在我国所有企业财务报表审计中得到贯彻实行。我国中小会计师事务所如何在具体的审计业务中落实风险导向审计以控制审计风险成为一个重要课题。本文对风险导向审计进行了简要介绍,分析了我国中小会计师事务所贯彻风险导向审计的现状以及存在的问题及原因,最后提出了加强风险导向审计在我国中小会计师事务所应用的几点建议。     

现代风险导向型审计模式下的审计成本探析

随着审计市场的快速发展,审计行业竞争日益加剧,审计准则要求采用现代风险导向型审计模式。在这种审计模式下,审计风险、审计程序、审计质量和事务所经营管理水平会对审计成本产生重要影响。为此,会计师事务所需要从提高人员素质、改进审计程序以及整合审计资源等方面来采取措施,以减少审计成本。     

浅析现代风险导向审计在中小会计师事务所的运用及建议

随着经济环境的日益复杂,现代风险导向审计方法应运而生。在我国,只有提高广大中小会计师事务所的审计质量水准,增强其识别、控制审计风险的能力,才能提升我国注册会计师行业的整体水平,服务于我国社会主义现代化建设。本文主要介绍现代风险导向审计的特点及在我国中小会计师事务所其运用的必要性,并阐述现代风险导向审计在我国中小会计师事务所推广存在的不足并提出改善措施。     

浅析当前我国审计收费现状

利用中小事务所客户市场竞争力差的缺点,通过变更会计师事务所同时利用审计契约的折扣行为,不诚信的被审计单位既获得了想要的审计意见,又压低了审计收费。作为自负盈亏的市场实体,不规范的委托模式为会计师事务所带来的是高额的审计成本,不但直接降低了注册会计师的执业质量,也在很大程度上造成审计市场的不正当竞争,进而影响了审计收费。     

The Differential Impact of the Force of Law Australian Auditing Standards

This qualitative study explores whether the impact of the introduction of the legally enforceable Australian Auditing Standards (ASAs) differs between audit firms based on their size. It complements and extends the Australian Government's pre‐implementation April 2006 Regulation Impact Statement ( AUASB 2006 ) and Hecimovic et al.'s (2009) study exploring the perceptions of key stakeholders. The results of the current study, based on data from extensive interviews with auditors from small, medium and large audit firms, suggest that compliance with the legally enforceable ASAs does not appear to increase perceived audit quality or public confidence. The study also finds that the costs/benefits to small audit firms and their clients differ to those of medium and large firms, raising questions about the viability of smaller firms remaining in the audit market.     

Barriers to entry to the big firm audit market: Evidence from market reaction to switches to second Tier audit firms in the post-sox period

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) studied concentration in the audit market and found that the Big 4 firms continue to dominate the market for clients with revenue of more than $500 million while non-Big 4 firms have gained market share among clients with revenue of $500 million or less (GAO, 2008). The US Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession has expressed concern about barriers to entry that might prevent a non-Big 4 firm from increasing its market share among large publicly-traded clients (Advisory Committee, 2008). One of these barriers may be the potential cost to shareholders if the stock market reacts negatively to the appointment of a non-Big 4 auditor (GAO, 2003). We examine whether the stock market reacts negatively when clients switch from a Big 4 to a non-Big 4, because a negative reaction might make such switching less likely to occur. We find that the market does not react more negatively when clients move from a Big 4 to a Second Tier auditing firm than when clients move from a Big 4 to another Big 4 firm. Our results suggest that a negative market reaction may not represent a significant barrier to entry among Second Tier auditing firms.     

The Business Risk Audit Approach and Audit Production Efficiency

Essentially, this study asks: Does the business risk audit (BRA) approach increase audit production efficiency? To answer this question empirically, direct and indirect tests are employed using proprietary, working paper data from the larger clients of a major Australian public sector audit provider and an efficiency frontier analytic methodology, data envelopment analysis (DEA). Results based on this proprietary, audit hours data for audit engagements carried out just after BRA approach implementation show that they have high levels of production efficiency and are risk-adjusted, with no significant difference in production efficiency between higher and lower business risk audit engagements. Results based on audit fees data for audit engagements carried out shortly before and after BRA approach implementation show that overall production efficiency significantly improves. Importantly, while this improvement is significant for lower-risk audit engagements, there is no significant improvement for higher-risk audit engagements. In the context of this study's research site, this is consistent with the BRA approach addressing inefficiencies created when lower-risk audit engagements are being over-audited. That is, the BRA approach can result in both risk-adjusted and more efficiently produced audits. With the re-emergence of the BRA approach in the literature and in practice, this study provides empirical evidence to support the claim that this audit approach can lead to ‘creating auditing efficiencies’ (Bell et al., 1997, p. 1).     

The impact of the input level of information system audit on the audit quality: Korean evidence

In response to the increasingly sophisticated corporate information system environment in producing accounting data, audit firms are undertaking information system (IS) audit in addition to conventional auditing. This study focuses on examining the impact of input level of IS audit on audit quality. We collected data on IS audit hours, a unique reporting requirement for Korean listed-firms as disclosed in the External Audit Implementation Details beginning in 2014. Simultaneously, we used the amount of discretionary accruals and measure of conservatism, C_Score as the proxies of the audit quality. By empirically examining a sample set that includes 2,370 corporate-year observations from the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (2014–2018), we found that IS audit hours and IS audit personnel had a statistically significant negative correlation when estimating with amount of discretionary accruals using the model of Kothari et al. (2005) and positive correlation with C_Score. Even when the group was divided into Big 4 and non-BIG 4, these results were apparent in firm samples that were audited by Big 4 audit firms, whereas those audited by non-Big 4 firms did not show these results. Taken together, the following conclusion can be derived. Audit quality has improved through conducting IS audit in response to new types of audit risks that have emerged because of the use of information technology in corporations. Significantly, this study analyzes empirically the effect that the effort of IS auditing has on improving audit quality by using a unique reporting requirement for Korean-listed firms. The study confirms that an appropriate level of IS audit input can improve audit quality. In addition, it is meaningful that IS audit practice is following the risk-based approach of the Clarified International Standards on Auditing (ISA).     

The reform of accounting standards and audit pricing

This paper focuses on the reform of accounting standards in China in 2007 and investigates its impact on equilibrium pricing in the audit market. We find that the concentration of the audit market and the probability of issuing modified audit opinions do not significantly change, but that audit fees increase significantly after the adoption of the new accounting standards in China. Deeper analysis suggests that (1) the implementation of the new IFRS-based Chinese Accounting Standards (CASs) has increased the market risk faced by listed firms and thus auditors’ expected audit risk, causing an increase in audit fees, and (2) the degree of the increase in audit fees is positively related to the adjusted difference between net income according to the old CAS before 2007 and the new CAS after 2007. We thus conclude that the reform has had a significant impact on audit pricing in China.     

Do supply shocks in the audit partner labor market affect auditor choice? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment

We examine whether supply shocks in the audit partner labor market induce clients to switch audit partners. We argue that audit partners in their early careers (i.e., junior partners) charge low audit fees to attract clients, which induces client firms to switch from senior partners to junior partners when there are more junior partners available. Utilizing the Big4 localization policy, we find that Big4 clients are more likely to replace senior auditors with junior auditors to cut costs after the policy. Furthermore, the results are mainly driven by clients who are charged high fees. Our empirical evidence enriches the understanding of auditor choice determinants and informs the ongoing debates surrounding new regulations for Big4 firms in China.     

Audit Labor Usage and Fees under Business Risk Auditing

The adoption of business risk audit (BRA) approaches during the 1990s by several leading audit firms has been the subject of considerable scrutiny and commentary. Under BRA, the auditor responds to the increasing complexity of auditee financial reports by acquiring a deep and comprehensive understanding of the auditee's industry, strategy, business models, and processes—tasks best accomplished by higher-ranked labor—and by employing this understanding to make audit labor allocations. Using proprietary data for 165 audits conducted in 2002, we investigate three propositions about audit labor use under BRA. First, relative to pre-BRA benchmarks for the same auditor, we expect BRA audits to use a greater proportion of higher-ranked labor. Second, we expect engagements with high assessed auditor business risk (ABR), a summary risk assessment that reflects the BRA auditor's rich understanding of the auditee, to be allocated more labor and more higher-ranked labor than pre-BRA benchmarks. Third, at all ranks of labor, we expect a positive association between assessed ABR and levels of labor use. We find empirical evidence consistent with these propositions. We also find that total labor use in our sample is only modestly lower than pre-BRA norms. Analysis of fee data from these engagements suggests that audit fees in 2002 are substantially less than would be expected under pre-BRA benchmarks. After controlling for audit labor use, both total fees and fees per hour increase with assessed ABR for first-year auditees but not for continuing auditees. Overall, our results provide evidence on the impact of the BRA audit regime and speak to the likely impact of BRA on audit effectiveness and efficiency.     

Herbal Pharma Inc.: Conducting an Effective Group Audit*

As the relative weight of global economic activity continues to shift toward non-OECD countries (OECD 2018), audit firms are more likely to encounter clients with significant business operations in foreign jurisdictions. The associated need to engage and oversee local component auditors in these jurisdictions can lead to challenges arising from different business cultures and the resulting intra-audit miscommunications. Audit deficiencies related to these challenges have been detected by regulators (PCAOB 2011, 2010; CPAB 2012, 2015). Standard setters such as the IAASB and the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB) have responded by issuing an exposure draft proposing revisions to ISA 600 (IAASB 2020) and CAS 600 (AASB 2020) to strengthen the auditor's approach and provide enhanced guidance to practitioners. In light of this evolving area of assurance, this case was developed to deepen students' understanding of both group and component audits in an international context. The case takes the perspective of the group auditor and features an audit senior in a specialized role overseeing the component audit of a client's increasingly material Chinese subsidiary. Deficiencies in the prior year component audit, along with a change in the component auditor, further underlines the importance of robust risk analysis for the upcoming engagement.     

Costs and Returns on Graduates of the University of Bradford

Global repercussions of the Enron scandal and particularly the enactment of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) in the USA, resulted in significant changes in the UK regulatory regime for audit and corporate governance, including an increased role for audit committees and independent inspection of audit firms. UK-listed company chief financial officers, audit committee chairs (ACCs) and audit partners were surveyed in 2007 to obtain views on the impact of 36 economic and regulatory factors on audit quality post-SOX. Four hundred and ninety-eight usable responses were received, representing a response rate of 36%. All groups rated various audit committee interactions with auditors among the factors most enhancing audit quality. However, International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) and the audit inspection regime, aspects of the ‘standards-surveillance-compliance’ regulatory system, are viewed as less effective. Exploratory factor analysis reduces the 36 factors to nine independent dimensions: economic risk; audit committee activities; risk of regulatory action; audit firm ethics; economic independence of auditor; audit partner rotation; risk of client loss; audit firm size and, lastly, ISAs and audit inspection. Post-SOX regulations have introduced additional dimensions to the factors influencing audit quality. Respondents commented that aspects of the changed regime are largely process and compliance driven, with high costs for limited benefits, a finding consistent with regulatory over-reaction.     

An Analysis of Comment Integration Involving SAS 54

The process by which auditing standards are established in the United States was criticized by the late Senator Metcalf (1977) and more recently by the Treadway Commission (1987). Their allegations involving the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) encompass many perceived deficiencies, ranging from the charge that the large accounting firms dominate the standard-setting process, to the notion that the auditing standards currently promulgated do not address emerging policy issues on a timely basis. However, despite these criticisms, there is a paucity of empirical research involving the actual formulation of auditing standards in the United States. Accordingly, this research investigates certain behavioural facets involving the evolution of Statement on Auditing Standards No. 54, Illegal Acts by Clients , along certain dimensions, including audit-firm size. Specifically, the paper examines reactions to the exposure draft of SAS 54 and the extent to which written suggestions were incorporated into the final standard. The results do not support the proposition that either audit firm size or an employee's membership on the ASB has a significant impact on achieving the integration of a respondent's comments into the final audit statement.