The Contagion Effect of Low-Quality Audits

2012 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 521-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jere R. Francis ◽  
Paul N. Michas
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Control Sample ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Contagion Effect ◽  
Quality Audit ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
Abnormal Accruals ◽  
Over Time

ABSTRACT We investigate if the existence of low-quality audits in an auditor office indicates the presence of a “contagion effect” on the quality of other (concurrent) audits conducted by the office. A low-quality audit is defined as the presence of one or more clients with overstated earnings that were subsequently corrected by a downward restatement. We document that the quality of audited earnings (abnormal accruals) is lower for clients in these office-years (when the misreporting occurred) compared to a control sample of office-years with no restatements. This effect lasts for up to five subsequent years, indicating that audit firms do not immediately rectify the problems that caused contagion. We also find that an office-year with client misreporting is likely to have subsequent (new) client restatements over the next five fiscal years. Overall, the evidence suggests that certain auditor offices have systematic audit-quality problems and that these problems persist over time. Data Availability: All data are publicly available.

scholarly journals The Influence of Institutional Regulatory Pressure on Nonprofit Hospital Audit Quality

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Michele M. McGowan ◽  
Siew H. Chan ◽  
Yuliya V. Yurova ◽  
Chunhui Liu ◽  
Raymond M. K. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Nonprofit Hospitals ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
Public Interest Groups ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Nonprofit Hospital

ABSTRACT This paper investigates whether the influence of institutional regulatory pressures emanating from the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and subsequent nonprofit legislation and disclosure requirements improves nonprofit hospital audit quality. Drawing on institutional theory, we argue that increased regulatory attention can shift the audit firm's judgment regarding the choice and inference of previously acceptable audit procedures and heighten the importance of reputational capital as an incentive for audit firms to improve audit quality. We examine two measures of audit quality: internal control deficiencies and discretionary accruals. The results reveal that the audit quality of nonprofit hospitals improves, suggesting that audit firms have responded to regulatory pressures and enhanced their audit and engagement practices for the benefit of nonprofit hospitals and stakeholders. The findings provide regulators and public interest groups with evidence that desired nonprofit oversight and accountability may have already been attained via improved audit quality. Data Availability: Data are available from public sources cited in the text.

Risky Business: Assessing the Generalizability of the PCAOB's Risk-Based Inspection Reports for Annually Inspected Audit Firms

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-138
Author(s):  
Jared Eutsler
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Selection Model ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Relevant Feedback ◽  
The Public ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
Incremental Information ◽  
Inspection Process ◽  
Risky Business

SUMMARY Existing research has found that the PCAOB inspection results of small (triennially inspected) audit firms provide incremental information about audit quality, but research has not documented a similar finding for large (annually inspected) firms. I examine the generalizability of annually inspected firms' inspection findings to audit quality by investigating the association between account-specific findings and account-specific audit quality while controlling for the PCAOB's risk-based program. First, I create a selection model to approximate the risk-based inspection process. I then use its outputs to control for selection risk while examining the association between revenue-specific deficiencies and the audit quality of revenues. I find that after controlling for selection risk, revenue-specific deficiencies are generalizable to the audit quality of revenues for clients that are more likely to be inspected. These results provide some evidence that the PCAOB's inspection program is meeting its objective of providing relevant feedback to stakeholders about audit quality. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources described in this text.

An Empirical Investigation of IPO Underpricing and the Change to the LLP Organization of Audit Firms

2004 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R. Muzatko ◽  
Karla M. Johnstone ◽  
Brian W. Mayhew ◽  
Larry E. Rittenberg
Keyword(s):  
Initial Public Offering ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Limited Liability ◽  
Litigation Risk ◽  
Ipo Underpricing ◽  
Audit Firm ◽  
Legal Structure ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
Public Offering

This paper examines the relationship between the 1994 change in audit firm legal structure from general partnerships to limited liability partnerships (LLPs) on underpricing in the initial public offering (IPO) market. The change in legal structure of audit firms reduces an audit firm's wealth at risk from litigation damages and reduces the incentives for intrafirm monitoring by partners within an audit firm. Prior research suggests that underpricing protects underwriters from litigation damages, and that the level of underpricing varies inversely with both the amount of implicit insurance provided by the audit firm and the quality of the audit services provided. We hypothesize the change in audit firm legal structure reduced the assets available from audit firms in IPO-related litigation and indirectly reduced audit quality by lowering intrafirm monitoring. As a result, underwriters have incentives as a joint and several defendant with the audit firms to increase IPO underpricing, particularly for high-litigation-risk IPOs, following audit firms' shifts to LLP status. Our findings are consistent with this hypothesis.

An Examination of Partner Perceptions of Partner Rotation: Direct and Indirect Consequences to Audit Quality

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian E. Daugherty ◽  
Denise Dickins ◽  
Richard C. Hatfield ◽  
Julia L. Higgs
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Survey Instrument ◽  
Unintended Consequence ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Partner Perceptions ◽  
New Industry

SUMMARY Using structured interviews and surveys of practicing audit partners, this study examines their perceptions with regard to mandatory partner rotation and cooling-off periods, and how recently enacted, more stringent rules, may negatively impact auditors' quality of life to the detriment of audit quality. Results suggest rotation, in general, increases partners' workloads and the likelihood of relocation. Additionally, results suggest that in response to accelerated rotation (and an extended cooling-off period), partners would rather learn a new industry than relocate. Importantly, partners perceive audit quality suffers from retraining, but not from relocating. Thus these results suggest an indirect, negative impact, and unintended consequence, of accelerated rotation/extended cooling-off periods on audit quality. Data Availability: The survey instrument is available upon request. Individual audit partner responses are confidential.

scholarly journals Audit Quality and Disclosures of Less-Experienced Participating Audit Firms in PCAOB Filings

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. P1-P8
Author(s):  
Carol Callaway Dee ◽  
Ayalew Lulseged ◽  
Tianming Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Subsequent Increase ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Quarterly Earnings ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
Reported Earnings ◽  
The Universe

SUMMARY In “Who Did the Audit? Audit Quality and Disclosures of Other Audit Participants in PCAOB Filings” (Dee, Lulseged, and Zhang 2015), we examine quality for issuer audits disclosed as involving less-experienced “participating auditors.” We find that market prices of these issuers reacted negatively at the time of disclosure, and investors' valuations of their post-disclosure quarterly earnings declined; investors have greater uncertainty in the numbers reported. In addition, the quality of the reported earnings is lower. However, we do not see a subsequent increase in audit fees, which suggests clients do not increase demands for higher quality to counteract the uncertainty in investors' perceptions of audit quality. Since our sample is limited to less-experienced participating auditors, the results are not readily generalizable to the universe of participating auditors. Future research using Form AP data can explore if our findings are generalizable to issuer audits involving the wider population of participating auditors.

PCAOB Inspections and Large Accounting Firms

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan K. Church ◽  
Lori B. Shefchik
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Linear Trend ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Second Tier ◽  
Over Time

SYNOPSIS The purpose of this paper is to analyze the PCAOB's inspection reports of large, annually inspected accounting firms. The inspection reports identify audit deficiencies that have implications for audit quality. By examining the inspection reports in detail, we can identify the nature and severity of audit deficiencies; we can track the total number of deficiencies over time; and we can pinpoint common, recurring audit deficiencies. We focus on large accounting firms because they play a dominant role in the marketplace (i.e., they audit public companies that comprise approximately 99 percent of U.S.-based issuer market capitalization). We document a significant, downward linear trend in the number of deficiencies from 2004 to 2009. We also identify common, recurring audit deficiencies, determine the financial statement accounts most often impacted by audit deficiencies, and isolate the primary emphasis of the financial statement impacted. Our findings generally are consistent comparing Big 4 and second-tier accounting firms, though a few differences emerge. In addition, we make comparisons with findings that have been documented for small, triennially inspected firms. Data Availability: The data are available from public sources.

Hiring Auditors with a Part II Quality Control Report: An Opportunity for Increased Earnings Management or Lower Audit Fees?

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-93
Author(s):  
Jared Eutsler ◽  
D. Kip Holderness ◽  
Megan M. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
The Public ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
Public Company ◽  
General Demand ◽  
Systemic Quality

ABSTRACT The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's (PCAOB) Part II inspection reports, which disclose systemic quality control issues that auditors fail to remediate, signal poor audit quality for triennially inspected audit firms. Auditors that receive a Part II inspection report typically experience a decrease in clients, which demonstrates a general demand for audit quality. However, some companies hire auditors that receive Part II inspection reports. We examine potential reasons for hiring these audit firms. We find that relative to companies that switch to auditors without Part II reports, companies that switch to auditors with Part II reports have higher discretionary accruals in the first fiscal year after the switch, which indicates lower audit quality and a heightened risk for future fraud. We find no difference in audit fees. Our results suggest that PCAOB Part II inspection reports may signal low-quality auditors to companies that desire low-quality audits. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.

scholarly journals Integration of Internal Control and Financial Statement Audits: Are Two Audits Better than One?

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Shefchik Bhaskar ◽  
Joseph H. Schroeder ◽  
Marcy L. Shepardson
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Auditor Judgment ◽  
Public Company ◽  
Better Than

ABSTRACT The quality of financial statement (FS) audits integrated with audits of internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) depends upon the quality of ICFR information used in, and its integration into, FS audits. Recent research and PCAOB inspections find auditors underreport existing ICFR weaknesses and perform insufficient testing to address identified risks, suggesting integrated audits—in which substantial ICFR testing is required—may result in lower FS audit quality than FS-only audits. We compare a 2007–2013 sample of small U.S. public company firm-years receiving integrated audits (accelerated filers) to firm-years receiving FS-only audits (non-accelerated filers) and find integrated audits are associated with higher likelihood of material misstatements and discretionary accruals, consistent with lower FS audit quality. We also find evidence of (1) auditor judgment-based integration issues, and (2) low-quality ICFR audits harming FS audit quality. Overall, results suggest an important potential consequence of integrated audits is lower FS audit quality. Data Availability: Data are publicly available from the sources identified in the text.

Does Audit Fee Homogeneity Exist? Premiums and Discounts Attributable to Individual Partners

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart D. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Audit Market ◽  
Homogeneity Assumption ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
Audit Fee ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Made In

SUMMARY This paper investigates the implied assumption, made in many audit fee determination studies, that, within a given audit firm, all partners produce a statistically identical level of audit quality and earn a statistically identical level of audit fees. This is referred to as the “homogeneity assumption.” However, this is contradicted by the individual auditor behavioral literature, which shows that different individual auditor characteristics can have an impact on audit quality. Given the fact that audit partners differ in their quality, this paper hypothesizes that different audit partners will be able to earn differing levels of fees. This hypothesis is tested by estimating an audit fee model using data from 822 Australian publicly listed companies for the year 2005. Australia is an ideal audit market for this research, as the disclosure of the name of the audit engagement partner in the audit report is mandatory. The empirical results indicate that individual audit partners earn individual audit fee premiums (or discounts) that are not explainable by the audit firms of which they are members. Data Availability: All data have been extracted from publicly available sources.

scholarly journals Determinants of Audit Quality in Indonesia Supreme Audit Institution: A Conceptual Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2(I)) ◽  
pp. 38-41
Author(s):  
Khoirul Aswar ◽  
Fahmi Givari Akbar ◽  
Noegrahini Lastiningsih
Keyword(s):  
Attribution Theory ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Public Institution ◽  
Audit Process ◽  
Internal Auditor ◽  
Internal Auditors ◽  
Audit Failure ◽  
The Public ◽  
Audit Firms

This research is based on the problem of poor audit practices by the Big Four audit firms and the mid-tier audit firms in UK in 2018/2019 cycle, which is indicated as audit failure. This resulted in sanctions and fines that increased significantly from the previous year. Problems related to audit quality are also experienced by government internal auditors in Indonesia. This is due to several factors such as the quality of government internal auditor resources that are still below the lowest service standards as a public institution, lack of available apparatus and low competency, and limited budget. The purposes of this study are to determine the extent of audit quality produced by government internal auditors at the Principal Inspectorate of Indonesia’s Supreme Audit Institution. Based on attribution theory, this study has several objectives, namely to determine the effect of competence, independence, and motivation on audit quality. Therefore, the contribution of this research can be the object of consideration and evaluation for Indonesia’s Supreme Audit Institution auditors regarding the audit process and audit results in the public or government sector, an information for Principal Inspectorate of Indonesia’s Supreme Audit Institution as an effort to maintain and improve the quality of government internal audits, and an information for the public in overseeing the audit quality of the management and responsibility of state finances.

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