Managerial Ability, Financial Distress, and Audit Fees

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdinand A. Gul ◽  
Mehdi Khedmati ◽  
Edwin KiaYang Lim ◽  
Farshid Navissi
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Managerial Ability ◽  
Accrual Quality ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Financially Distressed ◽  
The Relationship

SYNOPSIS This study examines whether the relationship between managerial ability and audit fees is conditional on financial distress. We find that higher managerial ability increases audit fees in financially distressed firms and decreases audit fees in non-distressed firms. We also observe that financially distressed firms with higher-ability managers display lower accrual quality and a higher likelihood of restatement. Moreover, higher-ability managers in distressed firms engage more in opportunistic financial reporting to concurrently maximize equity-based compensation and cope with debt refinancing pressures, which increases audit risks and results in greater audit fees. We confirm our results using a battery of sensitivity and additional analyses.

scholarly journals Financially Distressed Firms: Environmental, Social, and Governance Reporting in Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10156
Author(s):  
Iman Harymawan ◽  
Fajar Kristanto Gautama Putra ◽  
Bayu Arie Fianto ◽  
Wan Adibah Wan Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Financial Distress ◽  
General Information ◽  
Disclosure Quality ◽  
Exact Matching ◽  
Coarsened Exact Matching ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Financially Distressed ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Rolling Windows ◽  
The Relationship

This study examines the relationship between financial distress and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure. We hypothesize that financially distressed firms are tempted to enhance ESG disclosure as it provides higher performance in terms of financial and market perspectives. ESG disclosure needs substantial resources, which financially distressed firms may not be able to provide. In Indonesian settings, we find that financially distressed firms have lower ESG disclosure quality than non-distressed firms. Our results are robust due to lagged variable, Heckman’s two stages, and coarsened exact matching regression showing consistent results. Furthermore, our results are consistent with three years of rolling windows of financial distress and all sections of ESG reporting, except the general information section. This study extends the scope of prior studies by focusing on firms’ eagerness to provide higher quality ESG disclosure, particularly distressed firms.

Financial Distress, Earnings Benchmark and Earnings Management Practices

2021 ◽  
pp. 097226292110109
Author(s):  
Karan Gandhi
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Large Panel ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Contradictory Evidence ◽  
Financially Distressed

Prior research exhibits contradictory evidence on earnings management practices, both accrual and real, undertaken by the firms in state of financial distress. This study uniquely examines the issue in the presence of earnings-increasing earnings management motivation- meeting earnings benchmark of avoiding losses. For examining the issue, this study analyzes large panel data of Indian public companies for the period 2000–2016. The findings indicate prevalence of earnings-decreasing real earnings management practices, that is, decrease in overproduction and increase in spending on discretionary expenses, in financially distressed firms despite there being motivation to increase earnings to avoid losses. No evidence of accrual earnings management practices has been observed in such firms.

Corporate Governance Factors and Auditor Going Concern Assessments

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Parker ◽  
Gary F. Peters ◽  
Howard F. Turetsky
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Going Concern ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Auditing Standards ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
The Impact

When making going concern assessments, Statement on Auditing Standards No. 59 (Auditing Standards Board 1988) directs auditors to consider the nature of management's plans and ability to mitigate periods of financial distress successfully. Corporate governance factors reflect attributes of control, oversight, and/or support of management's plans and actions intended to overcome financial distress. Correspondingly, this study investigates the impact of certain corporate governance factors on the likelihood of a going concern modification. Using survival analysis techniques, we examine a sample of 161 financially distressed firms for the time period 1988–1996. We find that auditors are twice as likely to issue a going concern modification when the CEO is replaced. We also find that going concern modifications are inversely associated with blockholder ownership. We also confirm Carcello and Neal's (2000) findings with respect to the association between an independent audit committee and an increased likelihood of modification. In a repeated events setting, we find that insider ownership and board independence are inversely associated with repeated going concern modifications. Our study concludes by proposing implications for the current financial reporting environment (including the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002) and future research avenues.

scholarly journals Audit committee compensation, best practices and audit fees

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bum-Jin Park
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
High Quality ◽  
The Relationship

Background: It is extremely important that an audit committee (AC) monitors a company’s financial reporting process, and that the committee engages a high-quality auditor to carry this out effectively. Prior research on ACs has paid much attention to the relationship between AC best practices and audit fees (AF). Although compensation is a means of aligning interests between ACs and stakeholders, previous studies have neglected the complementary interaction between AC compensation and compliance with best practices on audit quality.Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate how compensation for ACs affects AF, and how the association is moderated by compliance with best practices to capture effective monitoring.Method: The regression models are estimated to verify how the relationship between AC compensation and AF is moderated by AC compliance with best practice. Moreover, the logistic regression models are used to investigate how the relationship between AC compensation and the opportunistic achievement of earnings goals is moderated by AC compliance with best practice.Results: The findings show a positive association between the levels of compensation AC members receive and AF, which is reinforced in firms that have ACs that comply with all best practices.Conclusion: The results suggest that highly paid ACs engage high-quality auditors to complement their function of monitoring management and AC compensation and compliance with best practices are complementary to enhance audit quality. This study thus provides the interesting insights that can be applicable to countries with requirements relating to the compensation schemes for ACs or the formation of the AC.

The relationship between managerial ability, earnings management and internal control quality on audit fees in Iran

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 685-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Mahmoud Mousavi Shiri ◽  
Seyedeh Zahra Hossini
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Managerial Ability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Control Quality ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the relationship between managerial ability, earnings management, internal control quality and audit fees to establish whether or not there is a significant relationship between the variables of managerial ability, earnings management, internal control quality and the audit fees. Design/methodology/approach The study sample includes 190 listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2009–2016. Research hypotheses were tested using the statistical methods of multivariable linear regression and data envelopment analysis pattern. Findings The obtained results indicate that there is a significant and direct relationship between managerial ability and internal control quality as well as real earnings management and internal control quality. Based on the results obtained from the second hypothesis, the authors could claim that there is an inverse and significant relationship managerial ability and audit fees. The third hypothesis also revealed that in companies with lower audit fees, there is a stronger relationship between managerial ability and internal control quality. The results of related tests show no significant relationship between accrual-based earnings management and internal control quality. Originality/value This paper is the first study in Iran whose main focus is on the relationship between managerial ability, earnings management, internal control quality and audit fees.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Segment-Level Manipulations And Audit Fees

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1243 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hurtt ◽  
Bradley E. Lail ◽  
Jason MacGregor
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Net Income ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Segment Reporting ◽  
The Relationship

We examine the auditorssensitivity to manipulative financial reporting by investigating the relationbetween audit fees and segment-level manipulations. Segment reporting provides an interestingsetting to examine auditor risk assessments because of the discretion affordedto management under existing regulations. Segment manipulations, a form of classificationsmoothing, are not in violation of accounting standards; nevertheless, thesemanipulations violate the spirit of faithful representation by distorting theperformance of a subset of the reporting unit at the expense of (or to thebenefit) of another subset. Because disaggregatedinformation is used by analysts and investors in bottom-upforecasting, these distortions can influence firm value even though they do notaffect bottom-line net income. Ourmeasure of classification smoothing measurescost shifting between core operating segments and non-core segments to proxyfor segment manipulation. We find thataudit fees, a proxy for the auditors risk assessment, have a positiveassociation with segment-level manipulations. Subsequent analyses suggest that higher auditfees are also due to the additional effort exerted in the presence of segment-levelmanipulations. Further, auditors appearjustified in charging higher fees to clients that engage in segmentmanipulations as we document evidence of a positive association betweenrestatements and segment-level manipulations. Collectively, these results suggest thatauditors are aware of the risk associated with companies that engage in segment-levelmanipulations and auditors respond appropriately by charging higher fees anddoing additional work.

scholarly journals Keterbacaan Catatan Atas Laporan Keuangan dan Dampak Audit (Readability over Financial Reporting Footnotes and Audit Outcomes)

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Nadiah Bella Sagitarisma ◽  
Riesanti E. Wijaya
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Generalized Least Squares ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Data Regression ◽  
Audit Fee ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This study aims to find out the relationship of readability over financial reporting footnotes and audit outcomes. Audit outcomes are projected by audit fees and audit report lag.  Researchers used data from the company's financial statements listed on IDX in 2015-2018. Researchers used purposive sampling. From the copying, researchers processed 184 company data. This study used the panel's data regression analysis method. Data processing uses Generalized - least - squares.  This research proves that the worse the readability, the lower the audit fee.  Meanwhile, the worse the readability, the more time it takes the auditor to carry out an examination of the financial statements. This phenomenon occurs because the condition of the readability of notes to financial statements in Indonesia is still at a low level.

Auditor Choice and the Informativeness of 10-K Reports

2021 ◽  
pp. 0148558X2110624
Author(s):  
Karel Hrazdil ◽  
Dan A. Simunic ◽  
Nattavut Suwanyangyuan
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Client Characteristics ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Accrual Quality ◽  
Auditor Choice ◽  
Joint Product ◽  
Big 4

This study provides new evidence on the influential role of external auditors in enhancing the informativeness of form 10-K annual reports to shareholders. Specifically, we find that the client’s choice of a Big 4 auditor (PwC, EY, KPMG, and Deloitte) versus a non-Big 4 auditor contributes to cross-sectional variations in 10-K disclosure volume. We also document that the benefit of enhanced disclosures provided by Big 4 auditors is more pronounced for audit clients with poorer accrual quality and those with higher information asymmetry. Furthermore, we introduce the portion of 10-K length unexplained by operating complexity and observable client characteristics as a new proxy for audit firm effort. Specifically, we find that abnormally long disclosures are associated with higher audit fees and longer audit report lag, which implies that an incremental level of audit effort can be inferred from the discretionary component of 10-K disclosures. As audit effort is costly, a greater volume of 10-K disclosures can be expected to be associated with an improvement in the quality of financial reporting. Overall, our findings show that auditors play more than a simple attestation role in the financial reporting process, and that the quality of financial reporting in a company’s 10-K annual report is a joint product of the effort and decisions of both a company’s managers and its auditors.

Financial Distress, the Severity of Financial Distress and Direction of Earnings Management: Evidences from Indian Economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 231971452110393
Author(s):  
Debdas Rakshit ◽  
Chanchal Chatterjee ◽  
Ananya Paul
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Z Score ◽  
Financial Condition ◽  
Low Degree ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Distance To Default ◽  
The Relationship

This paper investigates the relationship between earnings management and financial distress and considers whether this relationship varies based on the severity of financial distress and signs of discretionary accruals (a proxy for earnings management). For this purpose, multiple regression analysis has been employed on a sample of 192 financially distressed Indian firms during the period 2011–2018, counting to 1,272 firm-year observations. Discretionary accruals are estimated by the Modified Jones model and Raman and Shahrur (2008) model, while Altman’s Z-score and distance-to-default model are used to detect the degree of financial distress. The findings disclose that the low distressed firms are indulged in higher earnings management than high distressed firms. Also, the low distressed firms are engaged more in income-decreasing earnings management. However, the results are not consistent across both earnings management and distress measures. The findings have significant implications for investors and creditors. They need to be aware of this fact while evaluating creditworthiness of a firm since firms with even a low degree of financial distress can indulge in earnings management to camouflage their true financial condition.

Regulatory changes and audit fees: the moderating effect of overlapping directorship and financial reporting quality

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salau Olarinoye Abdulmalik ◽  
Ayoib Che-Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Regulatory Reform ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regulatory Changes ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis study examines the contemporaneous changes in the reporting regime in Nigeria by investigating the effect of regulatory changes on audit fees as well as the moderating effect of overlapping directorship and financial reporting quality.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilises a longitudinal sample of 409 firm-year observations, from 2008 to 2013, of nonfinancial companies listed on the Nigerian stock exchange. The study uses the general method of moments (GMM) to control for endogeneity concerns.FindingsThe results reveal that, without the moderating effect of overlapping directorship and financial reporting quality, the relationship between regulatory changes and audit fees is positive but weak, which suggests that regulatory changes drive cost. Similarly, the interaction of overlapping directorship did not reverse the positive relationship, which suggests the perceived risk associated with overlapping directorship. However, the improvement in financial reporting quality reverses the relationship, as evidenced by the negative and significant coefficient on the interacted terms.Practical implicationsThis study provides useful insights about committee membership overlap to regulatory authorities concerning the weakness of the monitoring ability of such committees.Originality/valueThe results of this study contribute to the growing literature on regulatory reform, audit fees and corporate governance. Specifically, the study provides empirical evidence on the effect of committee overlap on audit fees, which, to the best of the researchers' knowledge, has received no empirical attention in the Nigerian context.

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