The Effect of Change in the Reporting Threshold and Type of Control Deficiency on Equity Analysts' Evaluation of the Reliability of Future Financial Statements

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen K. Asare ◽  
Arnold M. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Financial Statements ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Equity Analysts ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Lower Likelihood ◽  
The Future ◽  
Reasonable Possibility ◽  
Level Versus ◽  
Specific Material

SUMMARY We examine the joint effects of reporting threshold (more than remote versus reasonably possible) and type of control deficiency (entity level versus account specific) as described in the adverse report on internal controls on equity analysts' evaluation of the reliability of a company's future financial statements. We hypothesize that equity analysts interpret a “more than remote” threshold to mean a significantly lower likelihood than a “reasonable possibility” threshold. We also hypothesize that when the reporting threshold is more than remote, equity analysts who evaluate an entity level material weakness will indicate a higher likelihood of future material misstatements than those who evaluate an account specific material weakness. However, when the reporting threshold is reasonably possible, equity analysts will assess the same likelihood of future misstatements for both types of material weakness. The results from an experiment that employed 65 equity analysts support our hypotheses. Taken together, the findings suggest that the change to the “reasonably possible” regime has made the account specific material weakness more consequential in evaluating the reliability of the future financial statements but had no effect on the evaluation of entity level material weaknesses.

Social Capital and Internal Control Material Weaknesses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayanthi Krishnan ◽  
Sang Mook Lee ◽  
Myungsoo Son ◽  
Hakjoon Song
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
External Monitoring ◽  
Regional Center ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Specific Material

Using a measure of social capital provided by the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, we document that, after controlling for auditor effort, firms headquartered in US counties with higher social capital are less likely to have ineffective internal control over financial reporting than those located in regions with lower social capital. This negative association between local social capital and ineffective internal controls holds when other forms of external monitoring are weak. We also find that the association is driven by ineffective internal control arising from entity-level, but not from account-specific, material weaknesses. Overall, we contribute to the literature that links firms' social environment with financial reporting quality.

Material Weakness in Internal Controls and Stock Price Crash Risk

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Lobo ◽  
Chong Wang ◽  
Xiaoou Yu ◽  
Yuping Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Crash Risk ◽  
Significant Relation ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Section 302

We investigate the association between material weakness in internal controls (MW) disclosed under Section 302 of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) and future stock price crash risk. We argue that relative to firms with effective internal controls, firms with MW have lower financial reporting precision. The lower reporting precision (a) increases divergence of investor opinion with regard to firm valuation and (b) facilitates managers’ withholding of negative information, which increases the information asymmetry between managers and outside investors. We hypothesize that both these effects increase the probability of a future stock price crash. We find empirical evidence consistent with our prediction. In additional analyses, we document that the positive association between MW and crash risk is primarily driven by company level rather than by account-specific weaknesses, increases with the number of material weaknesses, and intensifies during the financial crisis. In addition, we find that both the existence and the disclosure of MW incrementally affect crash risk, and that MW facilitates managers’ withholding of bad news. Finally, we fail to find consistent evidence of a significant relation between MW disclosed under Section 404 of SOX and crash risk.

An Examination of Nonprofessional Investor Perceptions of Internal and External Auditor Assurance

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis P. Holt
Keyword(s):  
Internal Controls ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Internal Auditors ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
External Auditor ◽  
Disclosure Credibility

ABSTRACT This study investigates whether assured disclosures of management's remediation of material weaknesses in internal controls affect positively unsophisticated investor perceptions of disclosure credibility and the likelihood of their investing in a firm. The results indicate that investors perceive assured material weakness remediation disclosures, whether the audit source is external or internal to the firm, to be more credible than unassured disclosures. Specifically, external assurance is seen to be more credible than the assurance provided by internal auditors but that is seen as more credible than no assurance. However, investment likelihood remains the same regardless of assurance source. Furthermore, the results indicate that investor disclosure credibility perceptions and investing likelihood are lower for internally assured pervasive material weakness remediation disclosures than internally assured account-specific remediations and all externally assured remediation disclosures. Finally, mediation results suggest that both internal and external auditor assurance increases investing likelihood indirectly through increased disclosure credibility.

Adverse Section 404 Opinions and Shareholder Dissatisfaction toward Auditors

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana R. Hermanson ◽  
Jagan Krishnan ◽  
Zhongxia (Shelly) Ye
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
First Year ◽  
Section 404 ◽  
Positive Interaction ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Accounting Restatements ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Level Versus

SYNOPSIS: Auditors issuing adverse Section 404 internal control opinions may be viewed as too conservative, or they may be blamed for being partly responsible for the existence of the internal control material weaknesses. Using a sample of 240 companies with adverse internal control opinions and 240 matched “clean” companies in their first year of Section 404 compliance, we examine how shareholder dissatisfaction with the auditors varies depending on material weakness existence/type (company-level versus noncompany-level) and the presence of recent accounting restatements. In the full sample, we find a significant positive interaction between restatement and company-level material weakness—company-level material weaknesses have a greater effect on shareholder dissatisfaction when a restatement has occurred. To provide insight, we partition our sample based on whether test companies have had recent accounting restatements. In the nonrestatement sample, we find that shareholders are less likely to vote for auditor ratification if the company received an adverse Section 404 internal control opinion because of noncompany-level material weaknesses. Shareholders may view the auditor as being too conservative when no company-level material weaknesses are cited and no recent accounting restatements have been issued. In the restatement sample, we find that shareholders are less likely to vote for auditor ratification if the company received an adverse Section 404 opinion with or without company-level material weaknesses cited—but with shareholder dissatisfaction greater for companies with company-level material weaknesses. Hence, in companies with recent accounting restatements, shareholders may blame the auditor for being partly responsible for the existence of material weaknesses (i.e., low audit quality). Overall, the results provide insights into shareholders’ perceptions of auditing and suggest that existing shareholders may sometimes prefer less conservative auditors. We encourage additional research on the role of auditors in protecting current versus prospective shareholders.

The Disclosure of Material Weaknesses in Internal Control after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weili Ge ◽  
Sarah McVay
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Foreign Currency ◽  
Revenue Recognition ◽  
Return On Assets ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Specific Material ◽  
Business Complexity

This paper focuses on a sample of 261 companies that disclosed at least one material weakness in internal control in their SEC filings after the effective date of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Based on the descriptive material weakness disclosures provided by management, we find that poor internal control is usually related to an insufficient commitment of resources for accounting controls. Material weaknesses in internal control tend to be related to deficient revenue-recognition policies, lack of segregation of duties, deficiencies in the period-end reporting process and accounting policies, and inappropriate account reconciliation. The most common account-specific material weaknesses occur in the current accrual accounts, such as the accounts receivable and inventory accounts. Material weakness disclosures by management also frequently describe internal control problems in complex accounts, such as the derivative and income tax accounts. In our statistical analysis, we find that disclosing a material weakness is positively associated with business complexity (e.g., multiple segments and foreign currency), negatively associated with firm size (e.g., market capitalization), and negatively associated with firm profitability (e.g., return on assets).

Accruals Quality and Internal Control over Financial Reporting

2007 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 1141-1170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey T. Doyle ◽  
Weili Ge ◽  
Sarah McVay
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Earnings Persistence ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Accruals Quality

We examine the relation between accruals quality and internal controls using 705 firms that disclosed at least one material weakness from August 2002 to November 2005 and find that weaknesses are generally associated with poorly estimated accruals that are not realized as cash flows. Further, we find that this relation between weak internal controls and lower accruals quality is driven by weakness disclosures that relate to overall company-level controls, which may be more difficult to “audit around.” We find no such relation for more auditable, account-specific weaknesses. We find similar results using four additional measures of accruals quality: discretionary accruals, average accruals quality, historical accounting restatements, and earnings persistence. Our results are robust to the inclusion of firm characteristics that proxy for difficulty in accrual estimation, known determinants of material weaknesses, and corrections for self-selection bias.

Does Audit Quality Influence the Relation between Earnings Management and Internal Control Weakness in the Post –SOX Period

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-100
Author(s):  
Judith van Ravenstein ◽  
Georgios Georgakopoulos ◽  
Petros Kalantonis ◽  
Panagiotis Kaldis
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Material Weakness ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Internal Control System ◽  
A Company ◽  
Big Four

Material weaknesses in the internal control system of a company create more opportunities for managers to engage in opportunistic earnings management. In this study the authors investigate the relation between earnings management and disclosed material weaknesses in the internal controls, both under SOX 302 and SOX 404, and examine whether audit quality, measured as being audited by a Big Four auditor, has an effect on that relation. The results suggest that material weakness firms have more absolute discretionary accruals and greater income-decreasing discretionary accruals. So evidence is provided that material weakness firms engage in more earnings management, however not in opportunistic income-increasing earnings management. When audit quality is high, measured as being audited by a Big Four auditor, the disclosed material weaknesses are lower just as total and absolute discretionary accruals are. It is also interesting in our findings that when material weakness firms are audited by a Big Four auditor a positive relationship seems to exist with discretionary accruals, suggesting that when a firm is audited by a Big Four auditor, material weaknesses in the internal controls will lead to opportunistic earnings management.

Why Do Firms Write Off Their Goodwill? A Comparison of Different Accounting Systems

2015 ◽  
pp. 23-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Avallone ◽  
Claudia Gabbioneta ◽  
Paola Ramassa ◽  
Marco Sorrentino
Keyword(s):  
Good Deal ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Accounting System ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
The Future

Increased comparability of financial statements across adopting countries is one of the main objectives of IFRS adoption. The level of achievement of this objective, however, is still debatable. While some studies have documented that crosscountry comparability of financial statements has increased after IFRS adoption, other studies have found that comparability has actually decreased since 2005. We contribute to this debate by studying whether the motivations for goodwill writeoff are the same or vary across countries with different accounting systems. Although a good deal of research has investigated the motivations for goodwill writeoff, our study is the first to analyze whether these motivations vary across countries with different accounting systems. We find that firms that expect low cash flows in the future are more likely to report goodwill write-offs if they are located in countries with an Anglo-Saxon accounting system than if they are located in countries with a Continental accounting system. These results suggest that IFRS are "interpreted" differently in different countries and that harmonization of financial statements has not been fully achieved yet.

The Severity of Internal Controls over Financial Reporting Deficiencies: Differences among Types and Industries

2014 ◽  
pp. 55-77
Author(s):  
Tatiana Mazza ◽  
Stefano Azzali
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Service Companies ◽  
Finance Industry ◽  
Material Weaknesses ◽  
Fixed Assets

This study analyzes the severity of Internal Control over Financial Reporting deficiencies (Deficiencies, Significant Deficiencies and Material Weaknesses) in a sample of Italian listed companies, in the period 2007- 2012. Using proprietary data the severity of the deficiencies is tested for account-specific, entity level and information technology controls and for industries (manufacturing and services vs finance industries). The results on ICD severity is compared with one of the most frequent ICD (Acc_Period End/Accounting Policies): for account-specific, ICD in revenues, purchase, fixed assets and intangible, loans and insurance are more severe while ICD in Inventory are less severe. Differences in ICD severity have been found in the characteristic account: ICD in loan and insurance for finance industry and ICD in revenue, purchase for manufacturing and service industry are more severe. Finally, we found that ICD in entity level and information technology controls are less severe than account specific ICD in all industries. However, the results on entity level and information technology deficiencies could also mean that the importance of these types of control are under-evaluated by the manufacturing and service companies.

What's Happening to Profits at Cazenovia Creations?

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Garnsey ◽  
Andrea Hotaling
Keyword(s):  
Financial Analysis ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Net Income ◽  
Database Query ◽  
Microsoft Access ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Query Tool ◽  
Transaction Level

ABSTRACT In this case, students assume the role of an accounting professional asked by a client to investigate why net income is not as strong as expected. The students must first analyze a set of financial statements to identify areas of possible concern. After determining the areas to investigate, the students use a database query tool to see if they can determine causes by examining transaction level data. Finally, the students are asked to professionally communicate their findings and recommendations to their client. The case provides students with experience in using query-based approaches to answering business questions. It is appropriate for students with basic query and financial analysis skills and knowledge of internal controls. A Microsoft Access database with transaction details for the final seven months of the current year as well as financial statements for the current and prior year are provided.

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