Model Predictions and Auditor Assessments of Going Concern Status

This paper compares the predictions of a bankruptcy prediction model and the assessments of auditors on the going concern status of a sample of 165 bankrupt companies and 165 matched non-bankrupt companies. Data from US companies for the period 1978 to 1985 were used. Probit analysis (with the weighted exogenous sampling maximum likelihood procedure) was applied to estimate the model parameters. The Lachenbruch U method hold-out accuracy rates of the model are 85.45% for bankrupt firms, 100.00% for non-bankrupt firms, and 99.91% overall. The corresponding accuracy rates of the auditors based on their audit reports are 54.37% for bankrupt firms, 100.00% for non-bankrupt firms, and 99.73% overall. The sensitivity of optimal cut-off points to misclassification costs of Type I and Type II errors was also considered. Results of the study suggest that bankruptcy prediction models can be useful to auditors in making going concern assessments. Further, such models can serve as analytical tools and defensive devices.     

Do Non–Audit Service Fees Impair Auditor Independence? Evidence from Going Concern Audit Opinions

We find no significant association between non–audit service fees and impaired auditor independence, where auditor independence is surrogated by auditors' propensity to issue going concern audit opinions. We also find no association between going concern opinions and either total fees or audit fees. In addition, our findings are robust to controlling for unexpected fees, to controlling for endogeneity among our variables, and to several alternative research design specifications. Our results are consistent with market–based incentives, such as loss of reputation and litigation costs, dominating the expected benefits from compromising auditor independence.     

审计准则讲解：持续经营

关于总则(一)制定目的与依据本准则的制定目的是为了规范注册会计师在会计报表审计中考虑持续经营假设的合理性,明确工作要求,保证执业质量。制定依据是《独立审计基本准则》。(二)持续经营假设的含义通常,企业如果已决定进行清算或停止营业,或者已确定在下一个会计期间将被迫进行清算或停止营业,则不应再以持续经营为基础编制会计报表。因此,持续经营假设意味着被审计单位在编制会计报表时假定其经营活动在可预见的将来会继续下去,不拟也不必终止经营或破产清算。持续经营假设对会计报表的影响主要体现在资产、负债账面价值的确认和计量上…     

持续经营审计意见、分析师跟踪与融资约束

以2011-2016年我国A股上市公司数据为研究样本,运用现金—现金流敏感性模型,研究持续经营审计意见及分析师跟踪对融资约束的影响。研究发现：持续经营审计意见的出具加剧了上市公司面临的融资约束;分析师跟踪人数越多,上市公司面临的融资约束越小;分析师跟踪能够缓解被出具带强调事项段持续经营无保留审计意见公司的融资约束,加剧被出具其他持续经营审计意见（保留意见、无法表示意见和否定意见）公司的融资约束。     

The Audit Report under Going Concern Uncertainties: An Empirical Analysis

This study explores the value of the audit report in the context of the going concern qualification (GCQ) decision along the joint dimensions of auditor competence and independence. Likelihood of company failure, auditor switch rates, the self-fulfilling prophecy argument and audit firm size are analysed as variables potentially affecting the value of the audit report in a GCQ situation. This study focuses on the outcomes of such decisions: the presence or absence of a GCQ, for a large sample of UK quoted companies over the decade 1977–86. Our results suggest that, unless the likelihood of failure is very high, the probability of a GCQ is very low. We find some evidence in support of an association between the presence of a GCQ and auditor switching but no support for the self-fulfilling prophecy argument. In addition, smaller UK audit firms do not appear to exhibit lower GCQ rates than do large firms. There is some evidence that the issues of auditor competence and independence may be a cause for concern in this context in the UK.     

Contagion or Competition: Going Concern Audit Opinions for Real Estate Firms

We examine whether intra–industry information transfers from going–concern audit opinion announcements create contagion or competitive stock price reactions for other real estate firms operating in the same line of business. Using returns from publicly-traded land subdivision/development firms and Real Estate Investment Trusts, we find modest evidence supporting a competitive effect among rival firms as a result of another real estate firm announcing the receipt of a Going Concern Opinion (GCO) from its independent auditors.     

An Investigation of Framing and Firm Size on the Auditor's Going Concern Decision

This study investigated the effects of framed information and firm size on the auditor's going concern report modification decision. Framing has been shown to affect individual decision-making in a variety of contexts. Investigations of framing effects in an audit context have reported mixed results. The findings of this study indicate that auditors are susceptible to the effect of framed information. Previous research has reported that auditors from small firms may be less conservative in audit disclosure recommendations than auditors associated with larger firms. This study evaluated the going concern decisions of auditors from three firm sizes: local/regional, a large non-Big Six firm, and a Big Six audit firm. Results indicate that differences in the report issued do exist across firm size. Possible explanations for the reported results are discussed.     

对注册会计师关注企业持续经营能力的若干思考

本文根据新修订审计准则的要求,详细论述了注册会计师评价企业持续经营假设的责任,企业持续经营假设不再合理的迹象,重点提出了注册会计师对持续经营假设应实施的专门审计程序,并对出具审计报告时应注意的各种问题做了列示与提醒。     

盈余管理 审计师变更与审计师独立性

盈余管理与审计师变更存在一定的相关性。本文检验了审计师变更公司在新任审计师的第一年、前任审计师最后一年、倒数第二年的可操控性应计利润及其在不同年份之间的变化。检验结果表明 ,虽然前任审计师在其最后一年聘期内采取了比其他审计师更为稳健的会计处理方法 ,以致被公司变更 ;但新任审计师在第一年并未完全配合公司。这在一定程度上表明 ,公司变更审计师并未达到预期的目的 ;前任审计师、后任审计师的独立性均很强。这可能要归功于事务所脱钩改制 ,以及有关部门有效的监管措施     

论CPA不确定性审计意见预测——基于重大疑虑事项的持续经营

随着竞争的日趋激烈,企业持续经营不确定性显著增加,注册会计师对持续经营问题的审计也日益受到关注。本文分析我国注册会计师对持续经营问题的审计状况,统计持续经营不确定审计意见中重大疑虑事项的出现频率,并在此基础上构建持续经营不确定审计意见预测模型。     

事务所战略、行业特征与客户选择

本文试图通过客户选择行为来研究事务所专门化经营战略及其实施的具体策略,以期为事务所从内涵发展方面实现做大做强提供有益的途径。研究发现,事务所的专门化经营战略促使客户偏好于集中选择事务所,而行业内的客户出于竞争驱动偏好于选择不同于竞争对手的事务所,从而促使其分散选择;说明专门化经营战略是有效的竞争战略,且更容易在竞争程度较低的行业内得到发展。这一结论将为我国事务所经营竞争战略和未来发展方向提供经验证据。     

监管政策、审计师变更与后任审计师谨慎性

本文以我国2001～2002年出台的相关审计监管政策为例,讨论审计监管对审计师变更和后任审计师谨慎性的影响。由于证监会2001年发布的《公开发行证券的公司信息披露编报规则第14号—非标准无保留审计意见及其涉及事项的处理》(以下简称14号文)增强了非标审计意见之于上市公司的不利后果,因此可能推动了机会主义审计师变更的增加。我们发现,在14号文出台后,前期非标审计意见同审计师变更的正相关关系变得更为紧密,且大所向小所的审计师变更频率显著上升。但是,没有证据表明,相比于未变更公司而言,变更公司的后续审计意见改善程度更高。并且,在2000～2002年,后任审计师针对变更公司的谨慎性有逐渐增强的趋势,这意味着2002年中注协关于审计师变更的监管政策可能发挥了一定的积极作用。     

Auditor environmental assessments

Classic rule-based systems appeared to have enormous potential for accounting and auditing problems. Unfortunately, there has been limited adoption of those systems. Why have those systems not lived up to their promise? This paper pursues one potential explanation.Typically, expert systems require that the user provides it with environmental assessments. Unfortunately, those assessments vary based on who is making the assessment. This paper finds that a group of partners and managers, when compared to a group of staff, each generated different environmental assessments to the same situation. However, in a rule-based system, different assessments can lead the user to different recommendations. As a result, different users in the same situations can generate different solutions from the same system. Accordingly, the quality of the recommendations from an expert systems are not “user neutral.”.     

ISA 570: Italian Auditors’ and Academics’ Perceptions of the Going Concern Opinion

This study aims to identify which of the indicators used to assess whether an entity may not be able to continue as a going concern are regarded by Italian partners in auditing firms and Italian accounting and finance academics as being the most important. The indicators and ratios are those pursuant to auditing standard ISA 570 Going Concern, the literature and professional practice. ISA 570 does not suggest a hierarchy of these indicators, because they are only examples of events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the entity's ability to continue as a going concern (GC), nor does it suggest specific ratios. To this end, an online survey was administered to partners in auditing firms and to the university faculty of Accounting and Finance. The paper contributes to enriching previous literature by providing insights into how Italian auditors and Italian financial reporting scholars prioritise GC indicators suggested by ISA 570. The results have the potential to help auditors and directors focus on the most relevant indicators in a GC assessment.     

Auditor Reputation Building

This paper reports the results of an experimental economics study designed to examine reputation building by information verifiers (auditors). The results identify boundary conditions to reputation formation and supply insight into auditors' incentives to form reputations. Reputations form in all sessions of treatments that supply nearly immediate rewards to participants who adopt reputation equilibrium strategies. In contrast, reputations form in less than half of the sessions of a treatment where participants have to maintain reputation equilibrium strategies for number of periods before the market rewards their effort. The results suggest the immediacy of rewards for adopting reputation strategies is a critical determinant of reputation formation.     

2011财务判断

财务判断关乎企业生死,这听起来,似乎危言耸听。显见的事实是,复杂的经济环境,考验着企业的判断力。由于企业的一切经济活动都通过财务行为来反映,企业的判断力首先是财务判断力。有财务判断力就有利益机会,甚至有多大的财务判断力就可能赢取多大的利益空间。财务判断重要性不言而喻,CFO是链接外部金融市场和企业内部财务管理的灵魂人物,是企业内部信息、尤其是重要财务信息的汇聚点。     

事务所规模、审计行业专长与知情交易概率

外部审计的作用在于提高公司的信息披露透明度,减少信息不对称,以保护投资者利益。本文从知情交易概率视角出发,研究了外部审计在减少信息不对称方面所发挥的作用。研究结果发现,国内"十大"审计的公司,以及由具有审计行业专长的事务所审计的公司,知情交易概率更低,而且行业专长的国内十大(非十大)审计的公司的知情交易概率也低于不具有行业专长的国内十大(非十大)。进一步检验还表明,在机构投资者持股的公司中,事务所规模和审计行业专长能够更有效减少知情交易概率。     

审计人员的谈话技巧

审计人员与客户接触,无论是在专业水平、社会知识、审计经验等方面都应首先给人以谦恭谨慎的形象,都应做到含而不露,以谦虚的口吻诱引欲晓的事理,以达到事半功倍的效果.     

Auditor Choice in Politically Connected Firms

We extend recent research on the links between political connections and financial reporting by examining the role of auditor choice. Our evidence that public firms with political connections are more likely to appoint a Big 4 auditor supports the intuition that insiders in these firms are eager to improve accounting transparency to convince outside investors that they refrain from exploiting their connections to divert corporate resources. In evidence consistent with another prediction, we find that this link is stronger for connected firms with ownership structures conducive to insiders seizing private benefits at the expense of minority investors. We also find that the relation between political connections and auditor choice is stronger for firms operating in countries with relatively poor institutional infrastructure, implying that tough external monitoring by Big 4 auditors becomes more valuable for preventing diversion in these situations. Finally, we report that connected firms with Big 4 auditors exhibit less earnings management and enjoy greater transparency, higher valuations, and cheaper equity financing.