Investments in Auditor-provided Non-audit Services and Future Operating Performance

Author(s):  
William A. Ciconte ◽  
W. Robert Knechel ◽  
Michael A Mayberry

The "organization capital" of a firm consists of its internal investments in its business units, processes, know how, employee skills, and information systems. We investigate whether a firm's investments in auditor-provided non-audit services (NAS) can supplement its own internal investment in organization capital, resulting in improved operating performance. We find that investments in NAS are positively related to a firm's subsequent operating performance consistent with NAS augmenting a firm's organization capital. Firms with low organization capital in general, high complexity, or disruption due to acquisitions benefit the most from purchasing NAS from their auditor. We also show that firms engaging auditors with a high level of expertise manifest higher levels of future operating performance. We find no evidence that the improvement in operating performance subsequent to NAS investment is due to earnings management or lower audit quality.

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Dwikky Darmawan ◽  
Weny Putri

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of political connection toward the earnings management of service sector companies with control variables firm size and audit quality. Firm�s political connection measured by using dummy variable. Earnings management is proxied by discretionary accrual which is measured by using Modified Jones Model. The research data applied in this study are the secondary data which are taken from the annual reports of service sector companies that listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange of 2016-2017 periods. There are 330 observations fit as sample, which are taken by using purposive sampling method. Data are processed by applying the multiple linear regression test. The result show that the political connection had positive but not significant influence to earnings management. Firm size had negative but not significant influence to earnings management. Whereas the audit quality had a negative and significant influence to earnings management.


2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Poniszewska-Marańda

Abstract Nowadays, the growth and complexity of functionalities of current information systems, especially dynamic, distributed and heterogeneous information systems, makes the design and creation of such systems a difficult task and at the same time, strategic for businesses. A very important stage of data protection in an information system is the creation of a high level model, independent of the software, satisfying the needs of system protection and security. The process of role engineering, i.e. the identification of roles and setting up in an organization is a complex task. The paper presents the modeling and design stages in the process of role engineering in the aspect of security schema development for information systems, in particular for dynamic, distributed information systems, based on the role concept and the usage concept. Such a schema is created first of all during the design phase of a system. Two actors should cooperate with each other in this creation process, the application developer and the security administrator, to determine the minimal set of user’s roles in agreement with the security constraints that guarantee the global security coherence of the system.


2014 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 1517-1546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua-Wei Huang ◽  
K Raghunandan ◽  
Ting-Chiao Huang ◽  
Jeng-Ren Chiou

ABSTRACT Issues related to low-balling of initial year audit fees and the resultant impact on audit quality have received significant attention from regulators in many countries. Using 9,684 observations from China during the years 2002–2011, we find that there is a significant initial year audit fee discount following an audit firm change when both of the signing audit partners are different from the prior year. The evidence is mixed if one or both of the signing partners from the prior year also moves with the client to the new audit firm. We find evidence of audit fee discounting in our analysis of fee levels, but not in our analysis of changes in audit fees from the prior year. Sanctions for problem audits and greater earnings management are more likely when there is an audit firm change that involves two new signing partners together with initial year audit fee discounting.


2003 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ho Young Lee ◽  
Vivek Mande

This study examines how the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) affects auditors' incentives to curtail earnings management by client managers. The most significant reform of PSLRA was the elimination of joint and several liability under which auditors and other parties could be named to lawsuits because of ‘deep pockets’ rather than culpability. While the elimination of joint and several liability provides significant relief to auditors from litigation, opponents of PSLRA argue that it discourages meritorious lawsuits and lowers audit quality, reducing investor confidence in markets. The potential benefit would be greatest for Big 6 firms, who have the highest exposure (largest clients) and significant resources to pay damages. In this paper we argue that if PSLRA induces decreases in audit quality, then we should expect increases in the prevalence of accruals after this Act. To investigate this issue we examine the discretionary accruals of a sample of 2,600 companies three years before and after the act. Our results support this hypothesis. Specifically, we find that after PSLRA income-increasing discretionary accruals rise for auditees of Big 6 firms but not for auditees of non-Big 6 firms.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (10) ◽  
pp. 1117-1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naima Lassoued ◽  
Mouna Ben Rejeb Attia ◽  
Houda Sassi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether ownership structure affects earnings management in the banking industry of emerging markets. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study is conducted using a sample of 134 banks from 12 Middle Eastern and North African countries. Econometrically speaking, the study used a panel data regression analysis. Findings The authors found convincing evidence that banks with more concentrated ownership use discretionary loan loss provisions to manage their earnings. The authors also found that state and institutional owners encourage earnings management, while family owners reduce this practice. Practical implications The findings would be valuable for investors since they should take into account ownership structure in order to reach a better investment decision. Moreover, regulatory reforms in emerging markets should push for more transparency about ownership structure, high levels of supervision, and external audit quality. Originality/value This study presents international evidence on the prominent role of owners in earnings management in emerging markets with weak shareholder rights protection.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. A1-A22 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Hay

SUMMARY Audit fees are related to important ethical issues for auditors. There has been increasing research on audit fees recently, including research on potential ethical risks regarding audit fees, which helps to illuminate some of these professional issues. The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) is very interested in this area and asked me to prepare a paper reviewing the relevant research. This summary reviews research that became available from 2006 to 2016 on four issues related to audit fees—fee level, dependence, non-audit fees, and firms that have a significant non-audit services business. Examining the research shows consistent evidence about two issues, namely that audit fees for new engagements are lower and that non-audit services affect independence in appearance. There are two further issues about which there is some concern. First, there are occasional studies reporting evidence that non-audit services provided by an auditor are associated with a loss of independence indicated by lower audit quality, even though most research does not support this conclusion. Second, there has been recent concern about growth in non-audit services to non-audit clients and there is some preliminary evidence that audit quality is lower in firms that have more extensive non-audit businesses. In general, although audit fee research does not convey a message that there are widespread ethical problems, the body of research shows that there are some risk areas.


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