关于农村审计性质的探讨

农村审计对于发展农村经济、巩固税费改革成果、减轻农民负担、加强社会主义新农村建设是十分必要的。但对于农村审计性质至今尚未形成统一的认识。农村审计不同于内部审计、政府审计和社会审计,农村审计应属于外部审计。     

政府审计质量的衡量研究:基于程序观和结果观的检验

政府审计质量的衡量研究具有重要的理论和现实意义。已有的文献将审计质量区分为程序审计质量与结果审计质量,本文试图进一步从哲学、法学和经济学的视角诠释程序审计质量与结果审计质量的理论基础,并以2005至2007年间参加全国优秀审计项目评选的审计项目为样本,研究发现程序审计质量对于结果审计质量具有显著的正面影响。同时,审计对象、审计主体等因素也在一定程度上影响了结果审计质量。     

审计绩效、审计治理结构与对政府审计制度效率的比较因素分析

审计绩效的提高是以一定的审计制度环境为条件的。本文以新制度学派的组织理论为依据,从审计组织领域的视角探讨了审计绩效、审计治理结构的涵义及其二者之间的关系,明确了完善的审计制度体系、并且得到审计以及相关组织有效的遵循,是提高审计绩效的基本制度条件。在此基础上,提出了对审计制度效率进行测评的一种经验研究的方法,并运用此方法对我国审计行政管理体制的制度效率进行了比较因素分析,提出了我国提高审计绩效的政策建议。     

审计机关审计项目审理工作的实践与理论探讨

根据审计法、审计法实施条例和国家审计准则规定,审计机关审计项目应当实行审理制度。这一制度对审计机关提高审计质量、控制审计风险、发挥免疫系统功能和建设性作用都极其重要。本文结合现代审计发展规律和内部控制制度需求,对审计机关审计项目审理工作的实践和理论探讨进行了较系统的研究,以期通过建立审理机构、配备审理人员、完善审理制度和优化审计机关审计项目审理程序为全面提高审计质量和控制审计风险提供保障。同时,还针对目前审理工作中存在的问题提出具体对策,与审计同仁进行探讨。     

Performance Audit Scope and the Independence of the Australian Commonwealth Auditor-General

The introduction of performance auditing through the 1979 Australian Audit Act amendments continues to challenge the Australian Commonwealth Auditor-General's independence. By international consensus, performance auditing includes effectiveness issues. In contrast, the Australian amendments omit reference to 'effectiveness' issues and do not define 'efficiency' audit. Interpretation of these omissions varies. The Australian National Audit Office sees no prohibition on including effectiveness audit. But successive governments have attempted to curb the CAG's independence by excluding effectiveness auditing as a forbidden intrusion into policy areas; an exclusion that the ANAO rejects in relation to audit of effectiveness at operational levels. This study investigates the practical effect of these conflicts on performance audit scope. The results show that the ANAO consistently goes beyond audit of economy and efficiency to make substantive recommendations on effectiveness issues.     

Efficiency,economy and effectiveness—but what about ethics? Supreme audit institutions at a critical juncture

Ethics is increasingly recognized as one of several important dimensions of performance. Yet, performance audit, or value-for-money audit, as conducted by supreme audit institutions (SAIs), does not typically include this dimension. Instead, the focus is on the classical ‘three Es’ (efficiency, economy and effectiveness). The reluctance to address issues of ethical misconduct has taken the audit practice of SAIs to a critical juncture, where the legitimacy of these audits ultimately is at stake. This paper explains why SAIs need to add a fourth ‘E’— ethical audit. Possible implications are discussed.     

Auditor–Provided Consultancy Services and their Associations with Audit Fees and Audit Opinions

This study examines the relationships between non–audit services fees (consultancy fees) paid to auditors and (1) audit fees, and (2) the occurrence of qualified audit opinions. The positive association between consultancy fees and audit fees is shown to be due to certain company specific events that generate a demand for consultancy services as well as requiring additional audit effort. Identified company specific events are mergers and acquisitions, new share issues, new accounting and information systems, new CEOs, and corporate restructurings. When these events are absent, there is no statistically significant relationship between audit fees and consultancy fees after controlling for company size. Companies that have relatively high consultancy fees are more likely to receive a clean audit opinion. This may be due to the non–audit work clearing up problem areas at the client company or it may be due to high consultancy fees impairing auditor independence. With the available data it is not possible to distinguish between these two reasons.     

Joint Audits: Does the Allocation of Audit Work Affect Audit Quality and Audit Fees?

Audit quality and cost consequences of joint audits have been continually discussed, especially since the publication of the European Commission’s Green Paper in 2010. We provide new empirical evidence for the French audit market. We show that a more balanced audit work allocation between the engaged audit firms reduces the audit quality and enhances the audit fees as compared to an unbalanced work allocation. We measure the quality effects following the concept of abnormal accruals and the concept of cosmetic earnings management. As unbalanced joint audits have parallels to single audits, our results have interest to those debating the benefits and costs of joint audits as compared to single audits.     

Public Audit: A Clarification of CIPFA's views – A Reply

In this article I reject Martin Evans' accusation that I seriously misrepresented CIPFA when citing CIPFA's submission to the Nolan Committee in my 1996 FAM article. CIPFA's argument regarding auditor independence is presented as a difference between two conceptual models – the private sector and public sector models of audit. I argue that however Evans tries to present CIPFA's position, any concerns relate to differences of practice, not concept. Whilst it is understandable that CIPFA would wish to present these differences as relating to conceptual frameworks, the argument does not stand up to scrutiny.     

转移支付审计探讨

转移支付是我国财政制度的重要组成部分,开展转移支付审计具有重要的现实意义。本文分析了我国财政转移支付的发展概况及其特点,认为转移支付审计应向绩效审计方向转变。本文围绕三性目标,对实现转移支付审计向绩效审计方向的转变进行了探讨。     

跟踪审计的机理与方法研究——基于汶川特大地震灾后恢复重建审计经验

跟踪审计是国家审计发展的新兴方式。通过实施提前介入、全程跟踪、着眼预防、着力防范的跟踪审计模式,有利于及时化解矛盾,促进灾后和谐重建;有利于促进灾后恢复重建政策的落实和完善,促进灾后科学重建;有利于政府合理应对和处置突发性公共事件。为发挥国家审计免疫系统的功能和确保灾后重建审计目标的实现,组织实施跟踪审计应根据灾后恢复重建资金与物资的筹集、分配、管理和使用的各个环节来明确审计的基本内容。重点关注灾后恢复重建资金物资应用的合理性、效率性、经济性。组织实施的思路和方法是:事前调查,着眼预防,促进规范,实现审计的预防功能;全程审计,滚动实施,实现审计的识别揭露功能;适时提出审计建议,督促被审计单位及时整改,实现审计的抵御修补功能。要建立全面的信息沟通和运行约束制度;注重综合分析,服务宏观决策;树立科学理念,明晰思路,创新方法。对审计结果要定期公告,以简驭繁,发挥短、平、快的优势,并关注和防范风险。     

Costs and Returns on Graduates of the University of Bradford

Global repercussions of the Enron scandal and particularly the enactment of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) in the USA, resulted in significant changes in the UK regulatory regime for audit and corporate governance, including an increased role for audit committees and independent inspection of audit firms. UK-listed company chief financial officers, audit committee chairs (ACCs) and audit partners were surveyed in 2007 to obtain views on the impact of 36 economic and regulatory factors on audit quality post-SOX. Four hundred and ninety-eight usable responses were received, representing a response rate of 36%. All groups rated various audit committee interactions with auditors among the factors most enhancing audit quality. However, International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) and the audit inspection regime, aspects of the ‘standards-surveillance-compliance’ regulatory system, are viewed as less effective. Exploratory factor analysis reduces the 36 factors to nine independent dimensions: economic risk; audit committee activities; risk of regulatory action; audit firm ethics; economic independence of auditor; audit partner rotation; risk of client loss; audit firm size and, lastly, ISAs and audit inspection. Post-SOX regulations have introduced additional dimensions to the factors influencing audit quality. Respondents commented that aspects of the changed regime are largely process and compliance driven, with high costs for limited benefits, a finding consistent with regulatory over-reaction.     

非审计业务对审计市场绩效的影响——基于会计师事务所业务结构的角度

以审计质量和审计收费作为审计市场绩效的衡量指标,从会计师事务所业务结构角度来考察我国注册会计师行业拓展非审计业务对审计市场所带来的影响。实证检验发现,相对于其他事务所而言,非审计业务规模越大和当年非审计业务规模较上年扩大的事务所,其审计质量越好,审计收费也越高。这说明在目前审计服务市场容量有限,竞争过于激烈的环境下,拓展非审计业务有利于增强审计独立性和提高审计收费,是改善行业执业环境的一个重要途径。     

The (mis)fit between the profile of internal auditors and internal audit activities

This study investigates whether there is a fit between the profile of internal auditors and the activities of the internal audit department (IAD). It also seeks to discover which type of internal auditors fit which type of internal audit (IA) activities. This is commonly referred to as the person-job (P-J) fit. Furthermore, this study investigates whether this (mis)fit is associated with the outsourcing/co-sourcing of IA activities and turnover within the IAD. Bringing strategic human resource management (SHRM) into IA can be considered as the key contribution of this paper. The results of this study are based on a questionnaire completed by 280 members of the Institute of Internal Auditors in Belgium. The results show that there is a fit between some characteristics of internal auditors working in an IAD and the activities of the IAD. The results also show that certain internal auditor characteristics fit with certain types of IA activities. However, the degree of fit varies. Furthermore, it was found that IADs that co-source/outsource were significantly more associated with a misfit between the profile of the internal auditors and the activities of the IAD, whereas a misfit was not significantly associated with a high turnover of internal auditors.     

Responsiveness of Auditors to the Audit Risk Standards: Unique Evidence from Big 4 Audit Firms

We examine the effect of changes in audit risk standards on the conduct of financial statement audits in a European setting. We investigate this by analysing the audit hours and audit fees for clients of Big 4 audit firms in Finland in 1996 and 2010. Our results show that audit firms became more sensitive to clients’ business risk due to the introduction of the new audit risk standards, with more audit hours allocated to owner-managed companies in 2010 than in 1996, and fewer audit hours allocated to low-risk clients in 2010 than in 1996. Also, the labour mix in the audit team changed for owner-managed companies, with a greater work load carried by junior auditors in 2010 than in 1996. Regarding the price of audit, we find an increase in audit fees for clients with high business risk, while audit fees remained at roughly the same level for low-risk clients. These findings should be of interest to the auditing profession and those involved in the development of auditing regulations.     

审计独立性的影响要素及措施分析

在资本市场迅猛发展的今天,审计独立性问题引起越来越多人的关注.审计的独立不仅会影响注册会计师的职业判断及审计质量,还会增加投资者对审计报告的期望度.而审计失败则将会损害审计的内在价值及执行审计任务的会计师事务所的声誉,甚至资本市场的稳定.本文主要从资本市场及公司治理结构分析审计独立性的影响要素,并结合西方国家先进的观点及普遍做法,提出几点提高审计独立性的改进意见     

试论人民银行开展风险导向审计的基本路径

风险导向审计是近几年发展形成的一种新的基本审计方法,研究其在人民银行内部审计的运用具有重要意义.本文重点阐述了人民银行运用风险导向审计的基本流程,力求建立人民银行风险导向审计的模式,增强人民银行运用风险导向审计的可操作性和针对性.     

The Effect of Client Industry Agglomerations on Auditor Industry Specialization

Prior research on auditor industry specialization documents fee premiums for local audit offices that are industry specialists. This research assumes that the effects of specialization are uniform across markets. We examine industry specialization based on the economic theory of industry agglomeration (geographic areas with high industry concentration). Agglomeration economies can facilitate access to knowledge for auditors serving a specific industry in those locations. We find that industry specialists in agglomerations earn a fee premium in excess of specialists in other markets. We find that nonspecialist offices in agglomerations also earn fee premiums in that industry when compared to nonspecialists in other markets even when controlling for these groups’ absolute share of the national market. We also address whether or not this expertise can be shared among offices in an agglomeration specialist's firm. We find that audit offices that have easy connections to a within-firm office in an agglomerated market can earn a fee premium relative to more distant offices, suggesting a benefit from knowledge transfer. This fee premium accrues to offices that would not be considered a specialist using traditional market share measures in a given industry. These findings indicate that the benefit of industry specialization depends on more than local market share.     

Factors affecting the internal audit effectiveness: A survey of the Saudi public sector

This study assesses factors influencing internal audit effectiveness (IAE) in Saudi Arabia. Data were obtained from 203 managers and 239 internal auditors from 79 Saudi Arabian public sector organizations. Multiple regression analysis examines the association between IAE and five principal factors. Results suggest that management support for IAE drives perceived effectiveness of the internal audit function from both management's and the internal auditors’ perspective. Management support is linked to hiring trained and experienced staff, providing sufficient resources, enhancing the relationship with external auditors, and having an independent internal audit department. Saudi Arabia is representative of many developed and developing environments, and its recent tradition of governance and audit is mirrored in countries worldwide. Moreover, its specific cultural traditions involving clan and tribal allegiances, and pervasive and core religious beliefs, characterize the GCC countries, the Arab World generally, and indeed, many other developing countries, irrespective of wealth. Thus, links between management support and internal audit effectiveness are likely generalizable beyond the Saudi public sector context.     

Audit office size,audit quality and audit pricing: evidence from small- and medium-sized enterprises

Using Swedish data, we investigate how audit quality and audit pricing vary with audit firm and office size. In contrast to prior studies, we use disciplinary sanctions issued against auditors not meeting the quality requirement as the measure of audit quality. We find no significant differences in the likelihood of sanctions between Big 4 audit firms and the fifth and sixth largest audit firms in Sweden (Grant Thornton and BDO). We refer to these collectively as ‘Top 6’. However, we find that the probabilities of warnings or exclusions from the profession are much higher for non-Top 6 auditors in Sweden than for Top 6 auditors. Furthermore, we find a strong negative association between the likelihood of sanctions and audit office size for non-Top 6 auditors. This association is insignificant for Top 6 audit firms. Audit fees follow a similar pattern and indicate that larger audit firms and offices put in more effort or have greater expertise. These results suggest that audit quality is differentiated in the private segment market. However, contrary to prior studies, our results suggest that the important dimensions are Top 6 versus non-Top 6 and the office size of non-Top 6 audit firms.