内部控制鉴证的时点与时期之争

内部控制鉴证业务中,注册会计师是对被鉴证单位特定时点(日期)还是特定期间(时期)的内部控制状况发表鉴证意见,一直是学术界和职业界争论的问题。本文运用管理学中的"有限理性"对注册会计师的内部控制鉴证行为进行分析,并从"法"的合理性角度分析内控鉴证业务相关规定如何做出安排。     

企业内部控制鉴证——基于利益相关者理论

内部控制鉴证业务已经在我国开展,并将推动我国企业的发展和鉴证业务的完善.这也引起了内部控制的利益相关者对内部控制鉴证业务的重视.本文从利益相关者角度出发,结合注册会计师、管理层、预期使用者对内部控制鉴证的不同看法,对内部控制鉴证进行了分析.     

基于三方关系的内部控制鉴证报告强制性披露动因分析

内部控制披露的发展经历了内部控制自我评价报告自愿披露到强制披露、内部控制鉴证报告自愿披露到渐进式强制披露。据财务信息与内部控制的密切联系,考虑国际有关内部控制鉴证报告的发展趋势及成果,以鉴证业务五要素之一三方关系为出发点,结合代理成本理论及审计合谋相关理论对强制性披露动因予以分析很是必要。     

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。     

内部控制鉴证对会计盈余质量的影响研究——基于沪市A股公司的经验证据

内部控制鉴证产生与发展的主要目标是提高财务信息质量,因此会影响盈余质量。我国目前的内部控制鉴证是否有效地提高了会计盈余质量?内部控制鉴证的执行如何影响会计盈余质量?本文通过实证分析沪市A股公司2006—2008年内部控制鉴证的经验证据,发现内部控制鉴证提升了公司会计盈余质量,在控制了管理层信号传递动机以后结论仍然稳健。最后,本文根据实证分析结果和我国上市公司内部控制鉴证业务现状,提出了完善内部控制鉴证的若干政策建议。     

基于三方关系的内部控制鉴证报告强制性披露动因分析

内部控制披露的发展经历了内部控制自我评价报告自愿披露到强制披露、内部控制鉴证报告自愿披露到渐进式强制披露.据财务信息与内部控制的密切联系,考虑国际有关内部控制鉴证报告的发展趋势及成果,以鉴证业务五要素之一三方关系为出发点,结合代理成本理论及审计合谋相关理论对强制性披露动因予以分析很是必要.     

创业板上市公司内部控制鉴证有用吗?——基于信息披露与实施效果的检验

深交所2009年发布规定,要求创业板上市公司至少每两年对内部控制实施一次鉴证。本文对创业板上市公司2009~2012年内部控制鉴证信息披露情况进行比较分析,并从会计差错更正、财务报表审计意见和操纵性应计利润三个方面检验内部控制鉴证的实施效果。研究结果发现,大多数公司的内部控制能够满足两年鉴证一次的要求,但是鉴证意愿并不强,鉴证报告规范性也有待提高;同时,虽然内部控制鉴证能够提高财务报告质量,但效果并不显著。因此,需要结合创业板的特性提高内部控制标准的可操作性,增强创业板公司内部控制鉴证意识,提高审计师对内部控制鉴证业务的正确理解和应用。     

上市公司为什么自愿披露内部控制鉴证报告?——基于信号传递理论的实证研究

本文基于信号传递理论对我国上市公司为什么自愿披露内部控制鉴证报告进行了理论分析和实证检验。研究表明,为了向市场传递真实价值的信号,内部控制质量好的公司,具体来说内部控制资源充裕、快速成长、设置了内审部门的上市公司更愿意披露内部控制鉴证报告;而上市年限长、财务状况差、组织变革程度高及发生违规的公司更不愿意披露鉴证报告。运用上市公司内部控制信息披露指数所作的进一步检验也支持我们的研究结论。我们的研究还表明有再融资计划的上市公司更愿意披露内部控制鉴证报告。     

高质量内部控制能抑制盈余管理吗?——基于自愿性内部控制鉴证报告的经验研究

本文以2009年度A股非金融类上市公司为研究对象,探讨高质量内部控制对盈余管理的影响。结果表明:高质量内部控制能够抑制公司的会计选择盈余管理和真实活动盈余管理;披露内部控制鉴证报告的公司具有更低的盈余管理程度;尤其是获得合理保证的内部控制鉴证报告的公司,其盈余管理程度更低。采用处理效应模型校正自选择性偏差后,上述结论更为稳健。     

内部控制鉴证信息披露与公司业绩的相关性研究——基于深市A股上市公司的实证研究

内部控制是实现企业经营目标的重要保障,信息披露是投资者获取信息并用以决策的制度性基础,内部控制信息披露越来越受到理论界和实务界的关注。近年来我国颁布了一系列内部控制相关法规,许多上市公司也开始披露内部控制鉴证报告,但鉴证报告的披露会加大成本,那么披露内控鉴证报告对实现企业经营目标有怎样的影响呢?本文以深交所A股上市公司2009年、2010年的数据为样本,研究内控鉴证报告披露情况,试图解释内控鉴证报告与业绩的内在关联性。研究结果表明,内控鉴证报告的披露水平与业绩显著正相关。该研究对于规范内部控制信息披露、促进企业自愿披露内部控制鉴证报告有很重要的理论价值和现实意义。     

At the interface of the electronic frontier and the law: the international legal environment for systems reliability assurance services

In response to concerns about unreliable information systems, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) have launched a new assurance service called SysTrust. The objective of a SysTrust engagement is for the practitioner to issue an attestation/assurance report on system(s) reliability.The development and deployment of the CPA/CA SysTrust service, however, is done in a high litigation risk environment, especially in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Our purpose is to evaluate the legal environment in these five nations so CAs and CPAs can comprehend the issues involving potential litigation prior to initiating SysTrust engagements. Presently, no legal case in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom has yet been reported which addresses directly accountant liability to third parties for negligent information system assurance services. An analysis of related legal cases sheds light on the potential liability of SysTrust providers. However, the current international legal environment is characterized by a high level of uncertainty. Several risk management strategies, including risk exposure analysis, client engagement evaluation, engagement letters, loss-limit clauses, and alternative dispute resolution, are presented that SysTrust providers may implement to minimize litigation risk.     

A case study demonstrates a democratic methodology for making risk-based decisions

Abstract

Risk is a subjective notion allowing the boundaries between the role of a risk practitioner and a decision-maker to become blurred. A belief that the public misunderstands risk and the need to control the risk assessment process are two barriers to effective engagement. A lack of engagement and the ability to enable citizens to decide their own future can contribute to the controversy we see in important public debates. In our study, we surveyed four stakeholder groups in the New Zealand to determine how they each rated the risks and benefits of a case study on the three biophysical impacts of the economy, environment and human health. Our survey methodology incorporated a continuous scale along three axes and this design enabled costs and benefits to be traded-off between individuals, giving them a representative voice. We used these results to investigate whether or not it would be feasible to use such an approach to make decisions. Our results indicate that public decision-making is possible, which in this case broadly reflected agreement between the public and the official decision. Such an approach holds promise for expanding the role of public engagement and input into the risk assessment process.     

Corporate social responsibility committees and the use of corporate social responsibility assurance services

This study examines whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) committees associate with the external assurance of CSR reports. Specifically, we consider the presence and effectiveness of CSR committees. Using a sample of Australian firms over the period 2004–2016, we show the mere presence of a CSR committee is not related to the external assurance of CSR. However, CSR committee effectiveness is positively related. In addition, firms with higher CSR committee effectiveness are more likely to seek external assurance provided by the Big4 accountancy firms and acquire financial audit and CSR assurance services from the same provider. Taken together, CSR committee effectiveness plays an active role in CSR assurance services. Our results are particularly relevant to those with interests in understanding the demand and choice of external CSR assurance services, as well as the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on these services.     

Determinants of CSR Reporting and Assurance: An Analysis of Top Cooperative and Mutual Organisations

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has greatly influenced business communication. CSR reporting has become the main tool through which organisations worldwide communicate their economic, social and environmental performance. Just as this practice is consolidated, the need for credible information in this area is critical. As a result, some companies subject their CSR reports to an assurance process. Several studies have analysed CSR reporting and assurance among stock companies, but few authors have developed a non‐stock firm perspective. Given the shortage of prior research, we analyse these practices, focusing on cooperative and mutual organisations because, as social enterprises, they have a special link with CSR, and they represent another kind of firm with different transaction costs. By combining statistical and content analysis methods, we aim to identify the determinants that influence the adoption of CSR reporting and assurance, the choice of assuror and the quality of assurance statements. The findings reveal that size is positively but non‐linearly related to reporting, while country and sector significantly affect the adoption of reporting and assurance. Assurance statements substantially differ across providers and their quality depends on size, sector and assuror, exhibiting interactions between size and assuror and between sector and assuror.     

Corporate lobbying,CEO political ideology and firm performance

In this paper, we investigate the influence of CEO political orientation on corporate lobbying efforts. Specifically, we study whether CEO political ideology, in terms of manager-level campaign donations, determines the choice and amount of firm lobbying involvement and the impact of lobbying on firm value. We find a generous engagement in lobbying efforts by firms with Republican leaning-managers, which lobby a larger number of bills and have higher lobbying expenditures. However, the cost of lobbying offsets the benefit for firms with Republican CEOs. We report higher agency costs of free cash flow, lower Tobin's Q, and smaller increases in buy and hold abnormal returns following lobbying activities for firms with Republican managers, compared to Democratic and Apolitical rivals. Overall, our results suggest that the effects of lobbying on firm performance vary across firms with different managerial political orientations.     

An international study of carbon information asymmetry and independent carbon assurance

Protecting the environment is now a major aspect of corporate social responsibility. However, voluntary carbon disclosure includes private information on future sustainability that external stakeholders cannot easily verify. Drawing on information asymmetry theory, we predict that companies with higher carbon information asymmetry between insiders and outsiders have a greater incentive to voluntarily engage an external party for the independent assurance of their greenhouse gas statements. Using data from the CDP, we test this hypothesis and find that our proxies for carbon information asymmetry (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, energy structure) are significantly associated with the adoption of carbon assurance. Further analyses suggest that the probability of carbon assurance is enhanced when carbon disclosure is inadequate to diminish information asymmetry. Finally, our sample companies adopted carbon assurance in addition to financial auditing. This highlights the key point that resolving carbon information asymmetry requires carbon assurance, which cannot be substituted for by financial auditing.     

Seeking legitimacy for new assurance forms: The case of assurance on sustainability reporting

Based on the development of a more refined conception of legitimacy than has been used in prior audit/assurance and sustainability accounting research, this paper analyses how the legitimation processes adopted by sustainability assurance practitioners in a large professional services firm have co-evolved with and impacted upon their attempts to develop this form of assurance practice - particularly the construction of assurance statements. The analysis reveals a complex and interdependent interplay between attempts at securing pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacy with three key constituencies - clients who commission the sustainability assurance services; (socially constructed) non-client users of the assurance statements; and the firm’s internal Risk Department that approves the wording of assurance statements. Securing these types of legitimacy is shown to require the adoption and alignment of varying legitimation strategies according to the constituency practitioners seek to influence. Developing pragmatic legitimacy with clients depends on establishing moral legitimacy with non-client users of assurance statements while securing moral legitimacy with non-client users is contingent on acquiring pragmatic legitimacy with the firm’s internal Risk Department. The practitioners’ legitimation strategies are underpinned by a commitment to opening up dialogue within the assurance process which is evident in their engagement with potential users of assurance and their efforts to expand assurance statement content and encourage user influence over what is assured. This provides a counterpoint to Power’s (1994, 1999) concerns about the tendency for new assurance forms to restrict debate and dialogue and reveals a rare empirical domain where Power’s (2003b) call for more customised and informative narratives in assurance reporting is being heeded.     

Assuring the integrated report: Insights and recommendations from auditors and preparers

There is little guidance on how integrated reports could be the subject matter of a conventional assurance engagement despite their growing use as an important means of communicating with stakeholders. This paper takes the first step in addressing this issue. The study relies on primary data collected from recorded interviews with 20 audit experts and 20 preparers, complemented by principles from existing professional assurance standards, to develop interpretively three possible assurance models (restricted, integrated and Delphi-inspired assurance).A restricted assurance model concentrates only on the audit of financial statements and the reporting of inconsistencies between the financial statements and other information contained in an integrated report to those charged with an organisation's governance. An integrated approach to ‘assurance’ offers an immediate solution for providing at least some assurance over the integrated report. It relies on different systems of checks and balances to provide directors with a basis for accepting responsibility for their organisations' integrated reports. Finally, a Delphi-inspired model offers a glimpse into how assurance services may evolve in response to the call for integrated reports to be assured. This model relies on a panel of experts to express an opinion on the method used to prepare integrated reports.     

CAP Forum on E‐Business: Assurance Reporting for XML‐Based Information Services: XARL (Extensible Assurance Reporting Language)*

Extensible business reporting language (XBRL) is an XML‐based method for financial reporting. XBRL was developed to provide users with an efficient and effective means of preparing and exchanging financial information over the Internet. However, like other unprotected data coded in XML, XBRL (document) files (henceforth “documents") are vulnerable to threats against their integrity. Anyone can easily create and manipulate an XBRL document without authorization. In addition, business and financial information in XBRL can be misinterpreted, or used without the organization's consent or knowledge. Extensible assurance reporting language (XARL) was developed by Boritz and No (2003) to enable assurance providers to report on the integrity of XBRL documents distributed over the Internet. Providing assurance on XBRL documents using XARL could help users and companies reduce the uncertainty about the integrity of those documents and provide users with trustworthy information that they could place warranted reliance upon. A limitation of the initial conception of XARL was its tight linkage with the XBRL document and the comparatively primitive approach to codifying the XARL taxonomy. In this paper, we have reconceptualized the idea of XARL as a stand‐alone service for providing assurance on potentially any XML‐based information being shared over the Internet. While our illustrative application in this paper continues to be XBRL‐coded financial information, the code that underlies this version of XARL is a significant revision of our earlier implementation of XARL, is compatible with the latest version of XBRL, and moves XARL into the Web services arena.