U.S. Audit partner identification and auditor reporting

After a lengthy and protracted debate, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) adopted new rules requiring disclosure of the engagement partner’s name and information about other accounting firms on the new PCAOB Form AP, Auditor Reporting of Certain Audit Participants. We investigate the impact of this regulation on auditor behavior in the context of the auditor’s going concern report modification propensity. We document an increase in the propensity to issue a going concern report modification in the disclosure regime, accompanied by a corresponding increase in the Type I (‘false positives’) error rate. Thus, an unintended consequence of Rule 3211 is the potential reduction in the audit report's informativeness. Conceivably, a more significant repercussion is that going concern modifications can hasten bankruptcy for firms since financial institutions may be reluctant to lend money to firms with modified audit reports. An unjustified increase in the going concern modification rate as evinced in our paper may make U.S. capital markets potentially less attractive to young, upstart, albeit financially-distressed, companies.     

An Experimental Investigation of Alternative Going‐Concern Reporting Formats: A Canadian Experience*

This study questions whether the current or proposed Canadian standard of disclosing a going‐concern contingency is viewed as equivalent to the standard adopted in the United States by financial statement users. We examined loan officers' perceptions across three different formats ‐ namely, an integrated note with a clean auditor's report (the current Canadian standard), a stand‐alone note with referencing on the face of the balance sheet and income statement (the proposed and now rescinded standard), and a modified auditor's report with an explanatory paragraph in addition to a stand‐alone going concern note (the standard adopted in the United States and other countries). Bank loan officers were selected as the appropriate financial statement users for this study. The results of the test of the hypothesis suggest that once the going‐concern note is fully disclosed in the notes, the style of presentation within the notes (a stand‐alone note versus an integrated note) does not significantly influence the reactions and perceptions of risk if the auditor's report is unmodified (i.e., if no reference is made to a going‐concern contingency). However, when the auditor's report is modified with an explanatory paragraph detailing the uncertainty and referencing the going‐concern note in the footnotes, the format appeared to convey a stronger signal of financial distress to loan officers. These results appear to differ from prior research, which holds that once the information is released in the financial statements, the format has no additional effect. The finding of this study is that the proposed and withdrawn Canadian standard was not perceived differently by the bankers from the present Canadian standard, but the standard adopted in the United States and most other countries was. This makes a strong argument for moving all the way to that standard as opposed to the “halfway” approach of the now rescinded CICA exposure draft. Thus, the public interest in Canada may not be served by adopting a halfway approach.     

Audit report information content and the provision of non-audit services: Evidence from Spanish lending decisions

This study examines whether auditor economic independence affects the information content of going concern audit reports in the European setting. We conduct an experiment where 80 experienced Spanish loan officers from the second largest European commercial bank review a loan request under two lending scenarios: (1) a potential borrower receiving an unqualified but modified going concern opinion, and (2) a potential borrower receiving a qualified going concern opinion. Auditor economic independence, measured by the provision of non-audit services (NAS), is manipulated (absence vs. presence of significant NAS). We find that a qualified going concern audit report is interpreted as a primary warning signal (death penalty). However, the provision of NAS acts as a second order mechanism that only activates loan officers’ professional skepticism in the case of an unqualified but modified going concern report scenario. Therefore, we find evidence suggesting that the potential negative impact of a perceived lack of auditor independence depends on the nature of the audit report. Our findings have important implications for the European regulator, which is currently considering establishing an auditor independence regulation framework similar to that in the United States of America.     

Audit Reports in Australia during the Global Financial Crisis

The Global Financial Crisis reduced economic growth, impacted equity and credit markets, and increased business risk. To the extent that this increased risk translates into greater uncertainty of companies’ ability to continue as going concerns, this should be reflected in audit reports. This paper investigates how the crisis impacted auditor reporting in Australia by examining the period 2005–2009. It finds that the main reason for audit report modification is going concern and that modification rates increased from 12% in 2005–2007 to 18% in 2008 and 22% in 2009. Serious audit report qualification rates remain around 3%.     

Determinants of going concern opinions and audit fees for development stage enterprises

Startup entities have been the focus of much political and academic interest recently. Development stage enterprises (DSEs), as defined by SFAS 7, are startup entities for which some publicly available information exists. New accounting standards have removed the DSE designation and related extra reporting requirements, and placed more responsibility on owners and managers to assess the ability of entities to continue as a going concern. We examined information from financial statements and audit reports of companies previously reporting as DSEs to investigate what increases the likelihood of receiving a going concern modification in auditors' opinions (GCO) and what affects audit fees. Our overall analyses indicate that the asset size of DSEs, negative working capital, and prior-year going concern modifications consistently influence going concern modifications to auditors' opinions. Managers should clearly consider these conditions when making their assessment of their companies' future going concern status. Our results indicate that the size of the audit firm did not influence the going concern modification decision, but Big4 auditors charge significantly higher fees than other auditors. Thus, managers/owners of DSEs should weigh the benefits of having a Big4 firm audit on their financial statements against the higher fees charged by those firms.     

Trends in Auditor Reporting in Australia: A Synthesis and Opportunities for Research

The purpose of this review is to synthesise the existing research literature regarding audit reporting and, in particular, the going concern decision. We consider the findings of research conducted in Australia and New Zealand on these issues. We then analyse trends in audit reporting from 2005 to 2013. We identify an increase in auditors’ reports highlighting going concern issues well beyond the global financial crisis period confirming that this period represents a period of prolonged economic uncertainty. We identify trends by audit firm type, by industry and company size. We analyse the subsequent year outcomes for firms receiving going concern opinions. We also identify opportunities for future research.     

The effects of problem severity and recovery strategy on managers’ going concern judgments and decisions

Accounting standards now require management (as preparers of the financial statements) to assess and disclose going concern problems to stakeholders. However, important questions exist about managers’ ability and willingness to provide credible going concern assessments given their role as financial statement preparers and incentives to avoid self-reporting problems. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of problem severity and recovery strategy on managers’ going concern disclosure judgments and decisions. We conduct an experiment with 84 experienced managers involved with financial reporting and find they are most likely to recommend going concern disclosure when financial distress is high and the recovery plan focuses on debt and equity. The results also suggest that managers have higher “substantial doubt” thresholds than auditors, and their perceptions regarding the fairness of the going concern standard also influence their decisions about disclosures of going concern issues.     

Decision‐making capabilities of a hybrid system applied to the auditor's going‐concern assessment

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a hybrid system as a decision support model to assist with the auditor's going‐concern assessment. The going‐concern assessment is often an unstructured decision that involves the use of both qualitative and quantitative information. An expert system that predicts the going‐concern decision has been developed in consultation with partners at three of the Big Five accounting firms. This system is combined with a statistical model that predicts bankruptcy, as a component of the auditor's decision, to form a hybrid system. The hybrid system, because it combines the use of quantitative and qualitative information, has the potential for better prediction accuracy than either the expert system or statistical model predicting separately. In addition, testing of the system provides some insight into the characteristics of firms that experience problems, but do not necessarily receive a going‐concern modification. Further investigation into those firms that have problems could reveal factors that may be incorporated into decision support systems for auditors, in order to improve accuracy and reliability of these decision tools. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of audit report disclosure on auditor litigation risk

Internationally, the escalating number of cases levelled against auditors and the costs of defending such actions has led to the auditing profession calling for measures to reduce their liability burden. Relatively few measures have been taken by the auditing profession by way of adapting the disclosure contained in the audit report to mitigate their litigation risk. This study examines whether the issuance of an audit opinion with a going concern related ‘emphasis of matter’ paragraph or work practices disclosure has any effect on potential litigants' likelihood of pursuing litigation against the auditor. An analysis of 69 responses from advanced law students and 18 practitioners working in corporate liquidation demonstrate that a modified (but not qualified) audit report effectively acts as a ‘red flag’ and reduces potential litigants' propensity to initiate litigation. However, work practices disclosure did not significantly alter potential litigants' inclination to recommend litigation. Despite this finding, respondents (particularly liquidators) indicated that work practices disclosure was an important factor in their litigation decision. These results suggest that further investigation into how to effectively disclose the work done on audit and assurance engagements is needed. This has implications for standard setters and the auditing profession, especially considering recent changes in the disclosure contained in audit and assurance reports.     

The information search process of socially responsible investors

Largely fuelled by an increasing social and ethical concern among private investors, socially responsible investment (SRI) has, in many ways, gone from having a marginal role to becoming a ‘mainstream’ financial service in recent years. SRI is an investment process that, in addition to the ‘traditional’ financial objective of investment, also uses social, ethical or environmental (SEE) criteria when making investment decisions. However, despite the growth of the market for SRI profiled mutual funds, very little research has been carried out with the objective of understanding the decision-making process of private SR-investors. In order to address this gap in the literature, this article addresses one stage in the SR-investor decision-making process: consumer pre-purchase information search. Using a sample of 369 SR-investors, the results of the study indicate that SR-investors search more for SEE information, such as the criteria used for exclusion of stocks than for ‘regular’ financial information such as past financial return and level of risk. Moreover, the study also indicates that involvement and perceived knowledge with regard to both financial and SEE issues impact the nature of the information search process of private SR mutual fund investors.     

THE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING EXPECTATIONS GAP: AUSTRALIAN EVIDENCE

Recent research of corporate reporting practices has suggested that corporate environmental reporting within Australia, and a number of other countries, is typically deficient and not of a standard to satisfy the information needs of various classes of report readers. This paper explores whether a potential information demand/supply imbalance is due to differing perceptions between report users and report preparers as to the relative importance of various items of environmental performance information to the users’ decision making processes. The paper explores whether an environmental reporting ‘expectations gap’ exists within Australia. The study, sponsored by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, surveyed the attitudes of senior executives within 462 of the largest companies within Australia (the preparers group), as well as the attitudes of 474 individuals from various categories of annual report users. In comparing the responses, significant differences between the views of users and the preparers were found to exist in relation to various issues associated with corporate environmental performance reporting. The evidence is consistent with the existence of an environmental reporting expectations gap within Australia.     

Auditors’ going‐concern‐modified opinions after 2001: measuring reporting accuracy

An important change in auditors’ reporting behaviour in the period after the high‐profile corporate collapses in 2001 is that auditors were more likely to issue going‐concern (GC)‐modified audit opinions. Comparing company failure rates subsequent to receiving a first‐time going‐concern (FTGC)‐modified audit opinion in the pre‐ and post‐2001 periods, we find a consistent type 1 error (misclassification) rate (the rate of survival among companies issued an FTGC opinion). Results are indicative of auditors maintaining GC reporting accuracy when comparing the 1995–1996 and 2004–2005 periods. This conclusion is supported after considering the impact of mitigating circumstances surrounding companies that received an FTGC‐modified audit report and survived.     

Asymmetric trading by insiders – comparing abnormal returns and earnings prediction in Spain and Australia

This paper examines whether the ‘external governance’ imposed by comparative financial accounting standards reduces the trading advantage of insiders. We do this by directly comparing insider trading returns and insider’s ability to predict future earnings from accruals in Spain and Australia. Results show higher excess returns and greater prediction of future earnings from conditioned insider trading in Australia that is then utilized by financial analysts to lower forecast errors – particularly in contrarian‐based accruals trading. Possible explanations include: (i) a high asymmetric quality for market‐based accruals, (ii) information transfer from informed insiders to uninformed insiders and financial analysts and (iii) a more timely dissemination of financial information in Spain through different ownership and governance structures.     

Accounting Measurement Rules in UK Bank Loan Contracts

This paper examines the financial ratio covenants found in a sample of 25 UK bank loan contracts and 13 contract templates. Minimum net worth, interest cover and gearing are the most widely occurring ratios. GAAP are used as the basis for all definitions. The definitions of net worth, borrowings and interest are frequently modified in a conservative direction, drawing on information both from the notes to published accounts and from outside those accounts. The definitions of profit, current assets and current liabilities, however, rarely deviate from GAAP. Thus some definitions restrict corporate management's scope to avoid covenant violation through appropriate accounting method choice while other definitions appear to permit it. Furthermore the widespread use of ‘rolling’ GAAP means that standard setters need to bear in mind that new standards can cause covenant violations. The findings of this study are consistent with those of previous research in the US and Australia.     

Business Continuity in the Face of Fraud and Organisational Change

We examine business continuity in the context of fraud and accounting for an organisation as a going concern. The issues addressed are timely and focus on two points. First, fraudulent activities in business are increasing worldwide with related costs reaching trillions of US dollars. Second, the conventional accounting concept of a going concern that typically signifies business continuity is arguably formed on a static view of business. As such, this view does not help mitigate opportunities for fraudulent statements of account. We contribute to the accounting literature by emphasising the dynamic nature of business and in doing so extend the discussion on Type 1 and Type 2 going concern errors. In that context we provide evidence of a possible Type 3 going concern error in an organisation's financial reporting. Drawing on an international fraud case involving an Indian company, Satyam, we illustrate the adaptive behaviour of resilient business organisations. The findings of our study show that even in the face of fraud dynamic, adaptive organisations can achieve business continuity.     

The horse has bolted: revisiting the market reaction to going concern modifications of audit reports

This paper examines what value is added by an audit report through an investigation of the information content for first‐time going concern modifications (GCMs). Consistent with prior research, we find no evidence of a short‐term market reaction to the public announcement of a first‐time GCM. We document a significant adverse medium‐term market reaction in the 12 months prior to a first‐time GCM announcement, but find no evidence of a persistent market underreaction in the 12 months following the announcement. These results are consistent with an audit opinion fulfilling an attestation function and confirming the deteriorating financial condition of a firm.     

USING A PROPORTIONAL ODDS MODEL TO ANALYSE THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE ACCOUNTING STANDARD SETTING LOBBYING IN AUSTRALIA

The primary aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that, when making written submissions to the accounting standard setting bodies, lobbyists place the same level of importance, on: 1) the ASRB Release 100 accounting standard evaluative criteria, 2) differential reporting, 3) the ‘relevance’ of the proposed financial reporting disclosures, and 4) the ‘reliability’ of those disclosures to general purpose financial statement users. The secondary aim was to determine if these qualitative factors are afforded different levels of importance by different lobbying groups, viz., public practitioners, corporate accountants, government accountants, and academics/individuals. The responses to a survey of formal lobbyists were examined using a proportional odds model which utilises the ordinal nature of the responses and employs an analysis of deviance between responses. The results showed that the sampled lobbyists, as a whole, considered the four qualitative factors of ‘evaluative criteria’, ‘differential reporting’, ‘relevance’, and ‘reliability’ of financial information, to be of equal importance to their lobbying position. In addition, the ranking in importance was not consistent across the different lobbying groups. That is, company and government accountants rated the ‘reliability’ of the proposed reporting disclosures as the most important factor influencing the nature of their lobbying submissions, while the public practitioner and academic groups perceived the ‘relevance’ of the proposed disclosures as the most important. Testing the effects of the financial reporting issues underlying each of these four factors on the relative importance of those factors, revealed 1) a concern by all lobbyists that the thrust of an Exposure Draft matches the lobbyists' views on the ‘relevance’ of the disclosures proposed, and 2) a desire by all lobbyists that the proposed financial reports faithfully represent the underlying transactions of the entity.     

Application of the Reporting Entity Concept in Australia

For decades, the reporting entity concept has been the foundation of differential reporting in Australia. Those entities classified as ‘reporting entities’ are, prima facie, required to produce full GAAP‐based financial reports while other (non‐reporting) entities are generally able to produce less complex and shorter ‘special purpose’ financial reports. In recent years, the application of the concept, as originally set out in the Statement of Accounting Concepts (SAC) 1 Definition of the Reporting Entity, has been criticized on several grounds—particularly, that it does not yield the reporting outcomes originally intended by regulators. Our analysis of 1,546 companies lodging financial statements with the corporate regulator in Australia (ASIC) shows the principles‐based criteria in SAC 1, designed to indicate the existence of a reporting entity, do not systematically explain its application by entities. Our findings are relevant for policy makers, researchers, and regulators concerned with how these choices might be more effectively regulated in future and whether this is best done through principles‐based or rules‐based approaches.     

Have Canada,Japan and Switzerland Adopted IFRS?

Although many countries have passed laws to require the use of ‘IFRS as issued by the IASB’ for certain types of financial reporting, that is not the typical approach to adoption of IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) in major developed countries. This paper uses Australia and Pakistan as examples of minor and major adjustments to the content of IFRS. Then it uses Canada as an example of restricted scope of mandatory application of IFRS. This is compared to extensive voluntary adoption in Switzerland and increasing voluntary adoption in Japan. The paper asks what ‘adoption’ means in the context of Canada, Japan and Switzerland. Finally, the paper looks at how companies in many countries limit the potential value of international comparability by not affirming compliance with ‘IFRS as issued by the IASB’ even when they achieve it.     

Information content and recency effect of the audit report in loan rating decisions

We examined the significance of the audit report in loan rating decisions using the belief revision model. We designed a laboratory experiment where the sign of the audit report is mixed with other annual financial information in a series of sequential evidence. The results of an experimental design, using 106 loan officers from international financial institutions, support the hypothesis that the qualified audit report appears to be an independent and useful piece of evidence when it is contrary to favourable financial expectations. Our findings also support that the ‘recency effect’ might influence international commercial loan officers’ perception of the qualified audit report.