Audit Committee Effectiveness in Victorian Local Government

This research addressed the questions: do audit committees (AC) in Victorian local government function effectively? Qualitative and quantitative data were collected to measure the perceptions, attitudes and perspectives of mayors, chief executives and chairs of the AC. The results were compared with perceptions of committee members of the Local Government and Shires Association of New South Wales and board members of the Municipal Association of Victoria as the representative bodies of local government in New South Wales and Victoria. There was a similarity of views in relation to: (1) inputs of an AC; (2) the behavioural nuances of the rigour of debate, trust and effective communications; and (3) the relationships with councillors and management. Limitations to effectiveness included: (1) attraction and retention of members; (2) the variability of expertise and the skills of the members; (3) continuing professional development for members; (4) ‘gaming’ behaviours; (5) power games associated with the appointment process; and (6) domination of the AC by members or management. The suggested way forward is the reinforcement of a strong governance culture in local government and an effective AC providing oversight of compliance, governance, internal control and risk processes.     

增强审计判断有效性初探

审计判断是审计学研究的重点,审计师的审计判断能够影响到审计服务质量,提高审计服务的效率。本文以审计判断的有效性为出发点。首先通过文献研究分析了审计判断的两个重要命题“主体有效性假设”和“过程有效性假设”,在此基础上分析了审计假设的框架效应、锚定效应、肯定效应和稀释效应等,有针对性地提出相关对策建议,以便改善审计师判断的准确性。     

商业银行内部稽核的有效性研究

近年来,由于宏观经济的稳健发展和金融体制改革的顺利推进,我国商业银行业务快速发展。不过,商业银行的内控体系建设仍相对滞后,尤其是内部稽核体系的问题甚为堪忧。这在一定程度上导致商业银行经营风险不断积聚。本文从商业银行内部稽核的组织模式、运行机制的分析入手,对制约商业银行内部稽核有效性等诸多因素进行了研究,并提出了若干政策建议。     

The Composition and Effectiveness of Audit Committees in the Presence of Large Controlling Shareholders

The authors' study of audit committees in 450 large East Asian companies (150 each in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia) finds a strong positive correlation between the “cash flow” ownership (as opposed to just the voting rights) of large shareholders and the percentage of independent audit committee members. The study also reports a strong positive correlation between the “cash flow” ownership of large shareholders and the percentage of audit committee members with financial expertise and experience. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that larger cash flow ownership provides large shareholders with strong incentives for more effective governance. Conversely, the lower percentages of independent or professional audit directors at companies with large disparities between cash ownership and voting rights is consistent with the authors' hypothesis that entrenched large shareholders prefer inferior governance structures that pose fewer obstacles to their tendency to exploit the wealth of minority shareholders. Furthermore, the authors find higher valuations (market‐to‐book ratios) for companies with audit committees that consist entirely of independent directors and have larger percentage of members with financial expertise. And when viewed as a whole, the authors' findings provide support for the argument that ownership structure affects the composition of audit committees, and that independent and professional audit committees can help increase firm value.     

德恒律师事务所

北京市德恒律师事务所是中国规模最大的综合性律师事务所之一,1993年1月经司法部批准创建于北京,原名中国律师事务中心,1995年更名为德恒律师事务所。德恒律师悟守勤勉尽责、竭诚服务、追求公正的宗旨,致力于为中外客户提供优质、高效的法律服务,现已形成遍布中国和世界50多个主要城市的全球服务网络,出色完成了一系列具有深远社会影响的重大法律服务项目,获得社会各界的肯定与好评。     

德恒律师事务所

北京市德恒律师事务所是中国规模最大的综合性律师事务所之一,1993年1月经司法部批准创建于北京,原名中国律师事务中心,1995年更名为德恒律师事务所。德恒律师恪守勤勉尽责、竭诚服务、追求公正的宗旨,致力于为中外客户提供优质、高效的     

内部控制、审计效率与审计有效性——以及据此对我国新审计准则体系的相关解读与评论

本文试图以审计和内部控制的交叉渗透和互动发展为背景,透过内部控制的视角,探讨审计模式从制度基础审计、传统风险导向审计到现代风险导向审计的演进过程,尤其是在这个过程中有关审计效率和审计有效性的考虑与权衡。新近颁布的中国注册会计师审计准则体系,其核心在于全面引入现代风险导向审计模式。因而,本文最后在前述分析的基础上,对我国新审计准则体系进行相应的解读和评论。一、内部控制与审计模式的演进(一)内部控制的引入推动了账项基础审计模式向制度基础审计模式的嬗变,制度基础审计的发展反过来又引发了内部控制概念的不断修订众…     

An Empirical Investigation Into the Audit Engagement Letter: Use, Content and Effectiveness

The Engagement Letter documents the scope of the audit and the responsibilities of both auditor and client, and thus is both contractual and informative in nature. A survey of 600 auditors and 300 listed public company managers investigated the use and effectiveness of a broad range of Engagement Letter items. Findings show that public company managers regard Engagement Letter items as significantly less important than do auditors. Differences between auditors and their clients in their assessment of the importance of these items might suggest misunderstanding. Consistent with the expectation gap literature, it is likely that auditors can improve their communication, perhaps through expanding on and clarifying the importance of particular items to clients.     

目前我国会计师事务所存在的问题与对策

我国会计师事务所脱钩改制后，仍存在较多问题，如：法规体系正在建立，但尚未完善，现行法规有的明显滞后；事务所的内部管理制度不健全，内部矛盾激化；人才少，规模小，档次低；各种形式的行政干预仍十分严重；执业竞争更趋激烈，无序竞争加剧。为此，应采取以下对策：1．健全法规制度；2．大力培养和造就复合型、国际型的CPA人才；3．建立健全会计师事务所的内部管理机制；4．加大行业监管力度；5．拓展CPA业务领域和范围；6．加强职业道德修养，规范执业行为。     

Audit Committee Effectiveness and Financial Reporting Quality: Implications for Auditor Independence

Auditors participating in a survey identified oversight of financial reporting and the external audit process, and ensuring quality internal controls, as the most important functions of effective audit committees. Financial literacy or expertise, independence, and a strong commitment to perform the job effectively were noted as important attributes. The results also suggest that although audit committees have enough power to confront management on contentious issues, they are not very effective in helping to resolve financial reporting disputes. Management was identified as a key influence in affecting the nature, extent, and quality of communication between the auditor and the audit committee. Most auditors believe that it is not important for each member of the audit committee to be an expert, but it is important that they are financially literate.     

外国企业常驻代表机构税收管理相关问题解析

外国企业常驻代表机构(以 下简称“代表机构”),系指按国务院管理外国企业常驻代表机构的暂行规定,经国务院有关部、委、局批准并在工商行政管理部门登记,设立在中国境内的外国企业及其他经济组织的常驻代表机构,包括华侨、港澳台企业及其他经济组织的常驻代表机构。由于代表机     

审计回扣 审计质量与审计监管

审计回扣产生的根本原因是由于缺乏法律赔偿机制 ,使机会成本转换成了事实上的利润 ,从而提供了较大的回扣空间。审计回扣是会计师事务所对政府干预审计定价的理性反应 ,有助于审计质量的维护。本文认为 ,取消政府限价或者允许明折明扣、限制或禁止经营多样化和加强法律赔偿机制建设 ,能有效解决审计回扣所暴露的审计监管问题。     

审计计划阶段和报告阶段应关注的特殊事项

一、利用其他主体的工作利用其他主体的工作主要分为两种情况:一种是利用专家的工作。当注册会计师遇到某些特殊资产、特殊业务时,单凭会计师自身的力量通常无法胜任,这时就需要利用专家的知识、经验和判断,获取必要的审计证据,来完成对某一事项的认定。另一种是利用其他注册会计师的工作。当注册会计师作为主审注册会计师时,就会遇到利用其他注册会计师工作的可能,需要对其他注册会计师的工作结果进行查询、审阅等来获取相关审计证据。这两种情形,在特殊行业、特殊业务和集团审计的情况下较常遇到,作为注册会计师就需要未雨绸缪,及早规划,…     

试论风险导向审计方法在证券投资审计中的应用

证券投资作为保险公司重要利润来源,具有较高的风险,开展有效的内部审计是保证证券投资业务操作合规性、安全性的重要保障手段。本文着重探讨以风险为导向的内部审计新模式在保险公司证券投资审计中的应用,以期对保险公司内部审计发展研究起到抛砖引玉的作用。     

系统审计——审计模式进化的方向

进化本是生态系统中的一种自然现象,本文把"进化"的概念引进审计系统,通过分析审计的发展历程,得出"审计系统每一次进化都是为了适应环境的变化",和"审计系统的每一次进化都有赖于相应的理论和技术的支持"的结论.面对新经济和数字化的挑战,本文认为:传统审计应向"系统审计"这种在系统科学及信息技术支持下的审计系统进化.     

管理审计是现代企业内部审计的发展趋势

当前我国的管理审计工作还处于初始阶段，针对目前我国管理审计实践中存在的问题，应尽快研究制定一套完整的审计程序和方法，使管理审计真正发挥作用。     

On the Relationship between Audit Tenure and Fees Paid to the Audit Firm and Audit Quality

Abstract

We investigate the impact of audit firm tenure, partner tenure, audit fees, fees for non-audit services and total fees on audit quality, as measured by discretionary accruals. Our sample consists of Spanish non-financial public companies for the years between 2006 and 2013. Results indicate that audit quality increases with audit firm tenure but decreases with partner tenure. Moreover, the level of fees paid to the audit firm seems to have a negative impact on audit quality, which is mainly driven by fees for audit services. In this regard, we do not observe any significant relationship between fees for non-audit services and audit quality. Our results also show that the negative relationship between either long partner tenures or high fees and audit quality does not occur when the tenure with the audit firm is long. Therefore, long audit firm tenures do not only seem to involve higher audit quality ‘per se’, but also moderate the negative effects of partner tenure and audit fees on audit quality. The results of this study, which are robust to several sensitivity checks, may be relevant for the current debate on auditor rotation and the joint provision of audit and non-audit services.     

政府审计在国有资产审计监督体系中的作用

我国当前的国有资产审计监督体系包括内部审计监督、社会审计监督和政府审计监督等三个层次。国有资产审计监督是我国国家审计机关的法定审计范围,在对国有资产审计监督方面具有先天的优势,应加强政府审计在国有资产审计监督体系中的主导作用。     

创建"服务型机关"——高校机关作风建设的问题和对策

创建"服务型机关"主要是以邓小平理论和"三个代表"重要思想为指导,树立和落实科学发展观.以转变观念为前提,增强服务意识;以提高素质为基础,提高服务能力;以提高效率为主线,提高服务质量;以争创先进为动力,创新服务载体;以建章立制为保证,强化服务效果,将高校机关建设成为基层服务、为教学科研服务、为师生员工服务的"服务型机关".