事务所变更、审计意见类型与财务重述

本文以2005-2009年间中国A股上市公司补充与更正报告中出现"会计差错更正"项目的公司为研究对象,分别以是否发生财务重述和重述调整方向为因变量,系统研究了事务所变更、审计意见类型对财务重述的影响。形成的结论主要有:被出具标准审计意见的公司,发生财务重述以及负向财务重述的概率均低于被出具非标审计意见的公司;没有发现事务所变更的公司发生财务重述和负向重述的概率高于事务所未变更的公司;而被出具标准审计意见的公司在事务所变更后发生负向重述的概率高于事务所未变更的公司,但没有发现其发生财务重述的概率高于事务所未变更的公司;未更换事务所的公司其前期被出具标准审计意见与发生财务重述的概率负相关,而与负向财务重述的关系不显著。     

政府控制对审计质量的双重影响

本文从上市公司和会计事务所的产权性质与区域属性的角度,研究了政府控制对审计质量的影响。研究发现,国有企业和本地会计事务所审计的公司的盈余管理水平较低;而较低的盈余管理水平能够降低审计师出具非标意见的概率;同时,国有企业在控制了盈余管理水平的情况下,其得到非标意见的概率相对要低。研究结果表明,政府控制对审计质量的影响具有双重性:一方面,政府控制增强了会计事务所的"本土知识"优势和抵御公司压力的能力,进而提高了公司报表质量;另一方面,政府控制依据它对审计市场的控制降低了出具非标意见的概率,损害了审计质量。     

盈余管理、信息风险与审计意见

盈余管理和信息风险是影响审计意见的两个重要因素。已有研究主要关注当期盈余管理与审计意见的关系,少有关注信息风险对审计意见的影响。本文运用我国上市公司的数据,同时研究盈余管理和信息风险对审计意见的影响。检验结果表明,公司的信息风险与审计师出具非标意见概率显著正相关,而当期盈余管理与审计师出具非标意见的概率无显著相关性。这表明,审计师出具审计意见时主要考虑信息风险,而没有证据表明审计师出具审计意见时考虑了盈余管理。本文的研究结论深化了已有审计意见和审计质量决定因素方面的研究。     

审计意见和年报披露会影响盈余质量吗?

本文使用沪深两市A股上市公司的面板数据,分析了审计意见和年报披露及时性与盈余质量的关系,认为二者与盈余质量之间存在显著的相关性:首先,年度财务报告被出具非标类型审计意见的上市公司,盈余质量较低;其次,年报披露越及时的公司,盈余质量越高。另外我们的研究结果还表明年报被出具非标审计意见的公司,会更晚披露财务报告,验证了变更年报预约披露日期(延迟披露)的公司则更容易被出具非标审计意见。     

新视角看中国证券期货市场

在证监会发布的《2005年证券期货相关审计市场分析》(以下简称《市场分析》)中,通过对上市公司审计意见的分析来概括反映上市公司的审计情况。在1361家上市公司2005年年报审计中,被出具了标准无保留意见审计报告的公司有1198家,被出具非标准无保留意见(指标准无保留意见外的其他意见,包括无保留+强调事项意见、保留意见及保留+强调事项意见、否定意见和无法表示意见中的一种)审计报告的公司共有163家。《市场分析》还从审计意见与披露时间、出具非标意见的事务所比例、非标意见的变化趋势、非标意见的行业分析、非标意见的地域分析等诸多方…     

我国上市公司财务重述行为的特征与趋势研究——基于2010～2016年上证A股的数据分析

本文选取2010~2016年我国上证A股的财务报表重述公司为样本,对我国上市公司财务重述行为进行了特征描述和趋势分析。结果发现:2010~2016年财务重述行为整体呈上升趋势;部分企业为降低财务重述带来的负面影响,有缩短重述报告滞后时间的倾向;金融业重述问题突出;由四大会计师事务所审计的企业不一定比非四大审计的财务报表的质量高;税费及其他利得或损失逐渐成为企业操纵利润的重要手段。     

资源控制权与审计师轮换的治理效应

审计师轮换是构建独立审计秩序化格局以防范会计舞弊的重要监管手段。本文基于会计师事务所内部治理尤其是资源整合的角度研究了审计师轮换对审计质量的影响,结果发现,审计师轮换后,会计师事务所出具非标意见的概率显著上升,高客户资源控制权个人化会计师事务所显著抑制了公司的正向盈余管理水平;高客户资源控制权个人化会计师事务所在审计师轮换后抑制公司正向盈余管理水平的提高幅度大于低客户资源控制权个人化会计师事务所。结果表明,审计师轮换提高了审计独立性和审计质量,有助于实现客户资源控制权个人化向会计师事务所化的转变。     

审计质量替代指标谁更有效:来自被查处上市公司的经验证据

审计质量是指审计师发现被审计对象在会计制度上违规并公开揭露这种违规行为的联合概率.它是一个抽象的概念,无法直接观测和计量,需用替代指标来衡量.我们通过国内外文献回顾,发现现行的替代指标有8个,但哪个能更好地衡量审计质量尚无定论.本文以1998年至2008年期间被证监会查处的管理舞弊上市公司为初始样本,选取审计意见类型、事务所规模这两个指标来验证各自的有效性.结果发现,非标意见与上市公司的管理舞弊行为显著正相关,表明审计意见类型是一个有效的替代指标;大规模事务所出具非标意见与管理舞弊不相关,表明用事务所规模来衡量审计质量是无效的.     

会计师事务所总分所治理与分所首次业务承接——基于中国注册会计师协会报备数据的分析

本文考察了会计师事务所总所对分所的治理水平对分所首次承接审计业务行为的影响。利用中国注册会计师协会的总分所治理报备数据,我们发现,与总分所治理较好的分所相比,总分所治理较差的分所更倾向于承接上期收到非标意见的上市客户;进一步地,对于此类首次承接的高风险客户,治理较差的分所出具非标意见的持续性显著弱于总分所治理较好的分所。我们的证据表明,会计师事务所内部治理对审计业务质量控制效果有显著影响。     

审计意见影响因素分析与研究

为了研究上市公司财务状况对注册会计师出具审计意见类型的影响,文章从公司偿债能力、盈利能力和营运能力三个方面的财务指标出发,研究分析了财务状况与审计意见类型之间的相关性.研究结果表明:偿债能力与非标准无保留审计意见的相关性不显著;盈利能力越好的公司被出具非标准意见的可能性就越小;应收账款周转率与应收账款周转天数与非标准审计意见显著负相关;固定资产周转率与非标准审计意见没有显著的相关性.     

Audit committee characteristics and financial statement comparability

Financial statement comparability enables weighing the similarities and differences in financial performance between firms. Prior studies mainly focus on the role of accounting standards in the production of comparability, but the role of economic agents has been largely overlooked. We find that a firm's audit committee size and financial expertise affect its financial statement comparability. Financial information tends to be more comparable among industry peers when audit committees are larger and more members have financial and accounting expertise. The effect of audit committee expertise on comparability is stronger for firms with less independent and smaller boards, for firms with non-Big 4 auditors and for firms with CEOs serving as the chairperson of the boards.     

合并会计报表审计的研究

合并会计报表审计是随着市场经济的发展 ,企业集团大量涌现而产生的一种新的审计项目。作者认为合并会计报表审计的内容 ,应当为合并范围的审计 ,会计政策的审计、母子公司个别会计报表的审计、合并会计报表、编制程序的审计以及合并会计报表附注的审计等五大部分。     

财务重述与上市公司外部审计选择研究——来自中国A股市场的经验数据

本文以2001年至2009年的A股上市公司为样本,从市场角度研究财务重述与市场选择的关系。研究表明,业绩优秀的上市公司变更事务所和注册会计师会显著降低财务重述的概率,但业绩差的上市公司变更事务所和注册会计师会显著增加财务重述的概率;选择＂四大＂能显著降低财务重述的概率;但支付高的审计费用对财务重述的概率有显著影响,如果选择的＂非四大＂可以降低重述的概率,如果购买的是＂四大＂反会增加重述的概率。     

Characteristics of non-audit services and financial restatements in Malaysia

Various types of purchased non-audit services (NAS) and their recurring nature affect the likelihood of financial statement restatements in Malaysia. Based on 953 firm-year observations during the period 2007–2009, evidence of a negative relationship between non-audit fees and financial statement restatements is provided. The purchase of both tax-related and audit-related NAS decreases the likelihood of restatements. Recurring (as opposed to non-recurring) tax-related and audit-related NAS are negatively and significantly related to the likelihood of restatements. These findings support our hypothesis that both types of NAS and their recurrence provide knowledge spillover, which enhances audit and financial reporting quality. When considering institutional settings, we find that politically connected firms are more likely to require financial restatements than non-politically connected firms, while audit committee independence and the purchase of tax-related, recurring tax-related and other NAS decrease this likelihood. The purchase of audit-related and recurring audit-related NAS and non-recurring other NAS decreases the likelihood of restatements for non-politically connected firms.     

Audit committee financial expertise and properties of analyst earnings forecasts

An important role of financial accounting information is to aid financial statement users in forming expectations about the firm's future earnings. Prior research finds that accounting financial expertise of the audit committee is associated with higher financial reporting quality. We extend this literature by examining the association between audit committee financial expertise and analysts' ability to anticipate future earnings. We find a significant association between accounting financial expertise on the audit committee and analyst earnings forecasts that are more accurate and less dispersed. In contrast, we do not find a significant association between non-accounting financial expertise (i.e., supervisory expertise) and forecast accuracy or forecast dispersion. These findings contribute to our understanding of the benefits of accounting expertise in audit committees by demonstrating an association between accounting financial expertise and improvements in analyst earnings forecasts.     

基于融资需求的财务重述研究——来自中国资本市场2009—2010年的证据

本文以2009—2010年间曾经发生财务重述的A股上市公司及其配对样本为研究对象,采用逻辑回归法研究企业融资需求与财务重述的关系。研究发现,上市公司某年度资金需求越大,下一年度发生财务重述的可能性越大;企业外部融资需求越大,发生财务重述的可能性越大;有再融资意向的企业比没有再融资意向的企业发生财务重述的可能性要大。上述研究结果和欧美国家的情况类似,表明我国上市公司存在基于融资需求的财务报表粉饰行为。     

Determinants and implications of long audit reporting lags: evidence from China

Audit reporting lag is the single most important determinant influencing the timeliness of the release of financial statements. In this study, we first explore the determinants of audit reporting lags in China where the audit market for listed firms is dominated by non-Big 4 auditors. We then examine the implications of long audit reporting lags in subsequent years. We find that selected measures of audit risk and complexity, and auditor expertise are all associated with the length of audit reporting lags in China. Firms with long audit reporting lags are more likely to have the receipt of non-standard opinions in subsequent periods. There is also evidence that firms with extremely long audit reporting lags tend to have more restatements in the subsequent year. As prior research has not specifically investigated the consequences of long audit reporting lags in subsequent years, this study makes an important contribution to the literature in this area.     

Effective board monitoring over earnings reports and forecasts: Evidence from CFO outside director appointments

Prior evidence that firms adjust their board structure following accounting restatements suggests that firms expect the board to effectively monitor the firm’s financial accounting system. However, little is known about signals firms use to identify monitoring weaknesses or the types of individuals firms appoint to improve the quality of monitoring. We expand on Ghannam, Bujega, Matolcsy, and Spiropolous (2019)’s evidence that firms appoint directors with accounting experience after financial fraud by investigating whether firms that file restatements or issue highly inaccurate earnings forecasts appoint individuals with CFO experience (i.e., a subset of accounting experts) to their audit committee. We find that firms are more likely to appoint an outside director with CFO experience to the audit committee when they have recently restated earnings and when they have higher prior management forecast error. We also find that the appointment of a CFO outside director to the audit committee is followed by a lower likelihood of restatement and more accurate management forecast. Together, our results suggest that firms respond to accounting failures by appointing outside directors with CFO experience. Thus, we provide insight into the signals firms use to identify weaknesses in the monitoring of the accounting function and the types of expertise firms value in addressing those weaknesses.     

Auditor litigation: Evidence that revenue restatements are determinative

This study extends the Palmrose and Scholz (2004) general litigation and general restatements study by focusing on auditor litigation and revenue restatements. We investigate all potential accounting issues, individually, instead of by their group method, with regard to auditor litigation. The impact of the individual accounting issues implicated in restatements is of concern to auditors and audit standard setters in gauging auditor litigation risk and audit risk. It also is important for financial analysis and securities valuation because investors' losses are greater, and recovery of losses on a percentage basis is lower, when the auditor is a defendant, and especially when the auditor has a more severe, negative litigation experience (Commolli et al., 2012). We examine financial reporting lawsuits filed from 2001 to 2008 and find that revenue restatements—far more than any other kind of restatements—are associated with auditors being named defendants and also auditors experiencing a more severe, negative outcome in the litigation.     

Auditor Independence,Non‐Audit Services,and Restatements: Was the U.S. Government Right?*

Do fees for non‐audit services compromise auditor's independence and result in reduced quality of financial reporting? The Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002 presumes that some fees do and bans these services for audit clients. Also, some registrants voluntarily restrict their audit firms from providing legally permitted non‐audit services. Assuming that restatements of previously issued financial statements reflect low‐quality financial reporting, we investigate detailed fees for restating registrants for 1995 to 2000 and for similar nonrestating registrants. We do not find a statistically significant positive association between fees for either financial information systems design and implementation or internal audit services and restatements, but we do find some such association for unspecified non‐audit services and restatements. We find a significant negative association between tax services fees and restatements, consistent with net benefits from acquiring tax services from a registrant's audit firm. The significant associations are driven primarily by larger registrants.