新审计报告和股价同步性

财政部在2016年12月批准印发了《在审计报告中沟通关键审计事项》等注册会计师审计准则("新审计报告"),旨在提高审计报告的信息含量以及其决策相关性。本研究考察了新审计报告和资本市场股价同步性这一"反映公司特有信息"指标的关系。我们通过构建双重差分模型,检验并发现新审计报告的实施降低了股价同步性。进一步,披露的关键审计事项越多,其公司股价同步性越低;并且披露更多非行业共有型事项、披露内容更详尽时,两者负相关关系更明显。另外,新审计报告及关键审计事项对股价同步性的影响在信息不对称程度更高的公司中更明显。本文为研究新审计报告的经济后果提供了初步证据,并从公司特有信息定价角度对准则的执行效果给予了积极评价。     

内部控制审计对会计盈余质量的影响——基于沪市A股上市公司的实证分析

本文利用沪市上市公司2010、2011年内部控制审计及盈余质量数据考察了内部控制审计是否能够提高公司的盈余质量,即对内部控制审计的有效性问题进行了研究。通过分析发现,披露内部控制审计报告公司的会计盈余质量要高于未披露内部控制审计报告的公司;上市公司在决定是否披露内部控制审计报告时存在自选择问题,在控制自选择问题后,结论依然不变。另外,我们还发现首次披露内部控制审计报告的上市公司盈余质量显著高于上一年度,即内部控制审计能够提高公司会计盈余质量。本文的研究结论支持将内部控制审计作为法定要求,以提升上市公司盈余质量。     

审计师变更会影响关键审计事项披露模板化吗?

审计报告改革旨在降低传统审计报告的模板化问题，提高审计报告的沟通价值和审计工作的透明度。本文从审计师变更的视角考察了关键审计事项披露的模板化问题。研究发现，审计师变更可以减弱关键审计事项披露模板化；进一步机制检验发现，审计投入的提高、关键审计事项披露信息量的增加是审计师变更降低关键审计事项模板化披露的作用机制；当业务负责人、非“四大”背景的审计师发生变更以及企业外部分析师跟踪数较低时，审计师变更对关键审计事项披露模板化的降低效应更加明显；此外，审计师变更通过降低关键审计事项的模板化披露减少了企业的财务重述，同时带来了积极的市场反应。本文不仅丰富了审计师变更和关键审计事项披露的相关研究，也为监管部门进一步提升审计报告改革长期效果提供了可以借鉴的思路。     

新审计报告与商业信用

本文以商业信用为切入点,考察供应商和客户如何解读和回应新审计报告中披露的关键审计事项。研究发现,关键审计事项披露会显著降低企业的商业信用融资,表明供应商和客户将关键审计事项解读为一项风险信息。截面机制检验发现,公司治理较好时,可以缓解供应商和客户对企业财务报告质量的担忧,关键审计事项披露对商业信用的负面影响得以缓解。此外,关键审计事项数量越多、关键审计事项与可抵押资产相关时,关键审计事项披露对商业信用的负面影响越明显,而关键审计事项应对强度越高、具有结论性评价时,负面影响得以缓解。本文从供应链关系视角为新审计报告改革效果提供进一步的经验证据,对企业和准则制定者具有一定的启示。     

新审计报告准则下关键审计事项披露分析与建议

2016年,我国颁布了新审计报告准则,准则中要求添加关键审计事项的披露。就目前来看,我国对关键审计事项的披露还处在初级阶段,对关键审计事项进行披露时还存在不足之处。本文对新审计报告准则下关键审计事项的披露进行了研究,并且分析了在关键审计事项披露中存在的主要问题,然后针对问题提出了相关的建议。     

审计报告中披露关键审计事项信息有助于提高审计质量吗?——报表盈余和市场感知双维度的经验证据

财政部批准发布的第1504号审计准则要求注册会计师在审计报告中沟通关键审计事项。本文基于我国新审计准则分步实施提供的准自然实验环境,采用PSM-DID方法研究了审计报告中披露关键审计事项对审计质量的影响,我们发现:关键审计事项的披露并未对财务报告层面的审计质量产生实质性影响,表现为公司操控性应计并未发生显著变化;但关键审计事项的披露对市场感知层面的审计质量产生了明显影响,表现为公司盈余反应系数显著上升。上述结果表明关键审计事项披露后,财务报告层面的审计质量与市场感知层面的审计质量发生了背离,不过进一步的检验发现,这种背离在更长时间窗口的观测中消失。本文结论对准则制定机构、市场监管者等多个市场主体的行为选择具有启示意义。     

关键审计事项对上市公司股价崩盘风险的影响研究

新审计报告准则的修订增加了披露关键审计事项的要求,能够为报告使用者提供更多信息,影响投资者决策,从而在一定程度上影响上市公司的股价崩盘风险.利用2016—2018年近三年A股上市公司的相关数据,实证分析了关键审计事项的披露对公司股价崩盘风险的影响效应.结果发现,关键审计事项的披露会扩大公司的股价崩盘风险.进一步分析发现,股价的下降是关键审计事项扩大股价崩盘风险的影响路径之一;调节效应显示公司价值越高,关键审计事项对股价崩盘风险的影响越小;公司内部控制能够削弱关键审计事项对股价崩盘风险的扩大效应.研究结论为关键审计事项的披露提供了政策建议,同时为企业防范股价崩盘风险提供了启示与思考.     

关键审计事项披露对市场和审计质量的影响

关键审计事项指的是审计中最为重要的事项,一般由审计人员运用专业技能职业判断进行确认。关键审计事项披露是我国最新出台的审计报告准则,对于促进经济市场的健康发展有着重要作用。本文通过分析关键审计事项披露现状与评价,进一步对关键审计事项披露对市场反应和审计质量的影响展开了分析。     

分层制度背景下关键审计事项披露特征研究——基于新三板挂牌企业的经验数据

新三板分层制度背景下监管机构对精选层和创新层要求披露关键审计事项，对基础层不作强制性要求，异质化监管下的关键审计事项披露特征值得关注。本文整理了3234份新三板挂牌企业2017-2020年审计报告，从公司、关键审计事项数量、类别以及事务所层面系统分析了其关键审计事项披露情况。研究发现，在审计报告中沟通关键审计事项这一改革在新三板挂牌企业中有效推进，其规范化程度逐渐向上市公司靠拢，且在分层监管下各层级企业呈现出不同的披露特征，但仍存在如披露关键审计事项类别方面有一定模板化倾向等问题。本文有助于深化对中小企业的新审计准则执行情况的认识、丰富分层制度的研究，同时为各利益相关方了解新三板关键审计事项披露提供参考。     

企业数字化影响关键审计事项决策吗？

本文以2016-2020年我国A股上市公司为样本，探究企业数字化对关键审计事项决策的影响。研究发现，在数字技术进步冲击下，年报审计师在数字化程度较高企业中的关键审计事项决策更加谨慎，具体表现为披露更多的关键审计事项数目、风险匹配度较高的关键审计事项和数字化业务风险匹配的关键审计事项。进一步地，数字技术进步下的关键审计事项披露决策在审计师信息技术背景组合的样本中更明显，并且高科技企业的数字化特性强化了关键审计事项风险控制决策。作用机制表明，数字化机制会促进企业高质量审计需求和增加审计投入力度，进而强化关键审计事项披露的充分性。本文从数字技术环境变化层面丰富了新审计报告关键审计事项披露的风险控制效用研究，对数字技术进步下注册会计师执业能力转变具有重要价值。     

公司动机、审计师声誉和自愿性内部控制鉴证报告——基于A股公司2008—2009年年报的经验研究

上市公司是否自愿披露内部控制鉴证报告,不仅取决于公司自身的披露动机,而且取决于审计师是否愿意出具内部控制鉴证报告。本文利用沪深两市上市公司在2008—2009年年报中自愿披露内部控制鉴证信息所带来的研究机会,实证考察了内部控制鉴证报告这一特殊的自愿信息披露行为的决定因素。研究发现,降低代理冲突和传递信号不仅是上市公司自愿披露内部控制鉴证报告的主要动机,而且是其自愿提高鉴证信息披露质量(扩大鉴证范围和提高保证程度)的主要动机;审计师声誉越高,越不愿意出具内部控制鉴证报告和为公司的内部控制提供高程度保证;大股东与中小股东之间的代理冲突以及内部控制质量会显著影响审计师对鉴证风险水平的评估,进而影响内部控制鉴证报告的鉴证范围和保证程度。     

内部控制缺陷信息披露对个人投资者风险认知的影响:一项实验研究

研究个人投资者对内部控制信息披露的反应机理具有重要的与内部控制披露管制相关的政策含义。本文运用实验研究方法,研究了内部控制缺陷信息披露对个人投资者风险认知的影响。研究发现,内部控制缺陷的严重程度对个人投资者的风险认知具有显著影响,但投资者对不披露任何缺陷与披露重要缺陷并没有进行差异化的风险认知反应;管理层对内部控制缺陷的描述程度对个人投资者的风险认知无显著影响。本文研究还发现,对管理者的信任是内部控制缺陷对个人投资者风险认知影响的一个重要中介变量;注册会计师的内部控制审计报告对个人投资者风险认知具有显著影响,在披露内部控制缺陷的情况下,对内部控制审计报告的使用程度越高,越能强化内部控制缺陷对个人投资者风险认知的消极影响。     

上市公司内部控制缺陷披露现状探查——基于沪市A股经验数据

随着《企业内部控制基本规范》和《企业内部控制配套指引》的逐步实施,我国上市公司内部控制缺陷信息的披露情况有了逐步提升.本文以2010-2012年间沪市A股上市公司披露的内部控制相关报告为研究对象,详细描述了这三年间沪市A股上市公司内部控制缺陷信息的披露情况.研究发现,披露内控缺陷的公司数量在逐年增加,信息披露方式趋于规范化,内部控制整体水平有所提高,存在缺陷的公司表现出了一定的行业特征.同时也发现内部控制缺陷信息披露仍然存在信息含量低等问题,针对这些问题,笔者提出了相关的政策性建议.内部控制缺陷情况的研究,一方面考察了我国上市公司对制度的执行情况,另一方面也为内控制度建设提供了经验证据.     

Do Key Audit Matters Affect Operating Activities? Evidence from Inventory Management

We investigate whether and how the disclosure of key audit matters (KAMs) affects firms' real operating decisions by examining the association between inventory-related KAMs and firms' inventory management. Exploiting China's recent audit report reform, our difference-in-difference analysis reveals that after the reform, inventory management efficiency increases more for firms subject to inventory-related KAMs than for other firms and the effect is more pronounced for industries in which inventory is material. Further analyses show that inventory-related KAMs positively affect inventory management by attracting external attention and increasing auditor monitoring, which in turn improves inventory management efficiency and operating performance. Our findings suggest that KAM disclosure changes firms’ managerial behaviours and generates a positive externality on real operations.     

The effect of fair disclosure regulation on timeliness and informativeness of earnings announcements

This paper examines the effect of Korea’s fair disclosure regulation on the timeliness and informativeness of earnings announcements. The present regulation for Korean listed firms requires that if a company’s sales revenue, operating income (or loss) and net income (or loss) have changed by over 30% compared to the prior year, the firm must disclose this information through a preliminary financial report (PFR) even before the company is audited by external auditors. To analyze the effects of this policy, we first investigate the timeliness of preliminary financial report disclosures. We examine the extent to which Korean listed companies actually comply with the requirement for prompt notification of information concerning material changes in financial performance. Second, we investigate the informativeness of preliminary financial reports by analyzing differential stock market reactions to different timings of preliminary financial report disclosures. Our empirical results reveal that more than half of our sample firms release their preliminary financial reports after external audits are completed, thereby potentially invalidating the effectiveness of the regulation. In addition, we find that preliminary financial reports have information value only if they are disclosed prior to annual audit report dates. This finding supports the notion that timeliness increases the informativeness of preliminary financial report disclosure by curbing insiders’ ability to potentially profit from their information advantage.     

Audit committee quality indices,reporting quality and firm value

We investigate the relation between audit committee (AC) quality indices, financial reporting, internal control quality and firm value using a US dataset for the period 2002–12. The indices are developed by linking firm value with principal component analysis (PCA) factors based on a broad set of 82 AC variables, some of which influence the quality of the AC, but are not addressed in prior literature. Significant AC factors include ‘overlapping directors’, ‘busyness’ and ‘foreign director’, and we use these factors to develop ‘high’ and ‘low’ AC quality indices. We show that low AC quality firms are more likely to manage earnings, be external auditor dependent with respect to non‐audit tax services, and switch to a lower quality auditor. Low AC quality firms are also more likely to have internal control concerns disclosed by predecessor auditors, including accounting issues, financial restatements, audit opinion concerns and deficiencies that undermine internal control effectiveness. Further, they are more likely to receive an audit report containing additional explanatory notes. Conversely, high AC quality firms are significantly less likely to have these concerns. Our findings highlight the value of using AC quality indices in delivering greater oversight of the financial reporting process.     

The effect of disclosing audit quality control deficiencies on non-audit tax services: Evidence from Deloitte’s 2007 PCAOB Part II inspection report

We examine whether public disclosure of Deloitte 2007 PCAOB Part II report, which identifies quality control deficiencies related to audits of income tax accounts, affects Deloitte’s auditor-provided tax services (APTS). Using a difference-in-differences model, we document a 17 percent lower likelihood of Deloitte’s audit clients employing APTS relative to clients of other annually inspected firms when the report is made public. We also find that the dampening effect of publicly disclosing the Part II report on Deloitte’s APTS is more evident among audit clients paying higher non-audit fees to auditors and those with more complex tax planning. These results suggest that revealing income tax-specific quality control deficiencies prompts audit clients to revise upward (downward) their expected costs (benefits) of perceived auditor independence impairment (knowledge spillover) stemming from APTS. Overall, our study suggests that public disclosure of audit firm-wide quality control deficiencies pertaining to audits of income tax accounts imposes a collateral damage to the inspected firm’s non-audit tax services, thereby providing a more complete understanding of the consequences of the PCAOB’s communications about quality control deficiencies in Part II reports.     

财务报告内部控制审计收费的影响因素——基于中国内地在美上市公司的实证研究

本文以中国内地在美国上市的公司为样本,研究了财务报告内部控制审计收费的影响因素及影响方式。研究发现,公司规模、会计师事务所的声誉与审计收费显著正相关;公司财务报告内部控制的复杂性与审计收费正相关,而且,在会计师事务所看来,相对于有传统的常规业务流程的公司,没有传统的常规业务流程的公司的财务报告内部控制更复杂。研究还发现,由于风险导向审计模式的应用、SOX法案特定的制度安排以及财务报告内部控制的特性,公司财务报告内部控制失效的风险与审计收费之间并不是以往研究结论和常识中的正相关,而是显著负相关,即上一年披露了财务报告内部控制重大缺陷的公司的审计收费反而低,产生了"极反效应"。     

Audit committee quality,auditor independence,and internal control weaknesses

In this paper we investigate the relation between audit committee quality, auditor independence, and the disclosure of internal control weaknesses after the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We begin with a sample of firms with internal control weaknesses and, based on industry, size, and performance, match these firms to a sample of control firms without internal control weaknesses. Our conditional logit analyses indicate that a relation exists between audit committee quality, auditor independence, and internal control weaknesses. Firms are more likely to be identified with an internal control weakness, if their audit committees have less financial expertise or, more specifically, have less accounting financial expertise and non-accounting financial expertise. They are also more likely to be identified with an internal control weakness, if their auditors are more independent. In addition, firms with recent auditor changes are more likely to have internal control weaknesses.     

Fiscal-audit separation and government disclosure quality

We show that the separation of the fiscal and audit offices of China’s province-level governments leads to high fiscal disclosure quality, an effect that is more pronounced when the political rank of the official in charge of auditing is higher than that of the official in charge of fiscal matters. Dynamically, disclosure quality decreases when fiscal office and audit office go from being separated to being integrated and improves when they go from being integrated to being separated. Finally, fiscal disclosure quality reduces the cost of debt and improves credit ratings of municipal investment and development bonds. We demonstrate an aspect of China’s governance that, even without adequate monitoring from the oppositions or the media, local governments can improve efficiency via horizontal separations of fiscal and audit offices.