The Role of Audit Firm Expertise and Knowledge Spillover in Mitigating Earnings Management through the Tax Accounts

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brant E. Christensen ◽  
Adam J. Olson ◽  
Thomas C. Omer

ABSTRACT Tax-related accounts are complex and often the last accounts finalized in the financial reporting process. Accordingly, these accounts can be used as a “last-chance” earnings management tool (Dhaliwal, Gleason, and Mills 2004). We investigate the extent to which an audit firm's industry expertise constrains earnings management through the tax accounts. We find that national industry audit experts constrain earnings management through the tax accounts. We also find that audit firm tax expertise constrains earnings management through the tax accounts when the audit firm is not considered an industry audit expert. Finally, we find evidence that providing both audit and tax services facilitates a nonexpert firm's ability to constrain earnings management through the tax accounts, which suggests that knowledge spillover plays an important role in reducing “last-chance” earnings management. All findings hold among smaller clients and when the extent of earnings management is below quantitative materiality thresholds. Data Availability: All data are publicly available as noted in the text.

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 379
Author(s):  
Widya. A. Sudarman, Widi Hidayat

This study has a purpose to investigate the effect of committee audit on earnings management. Using a sampel of companies companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) 2013-2017. Results of this study shows that gender of audit committee significantly effect earnings management, it explains that female on audit committee are more careful and allow for discretion in terms of financial reporting. The results explain gender theory that women are more risk averse and ethical than men. This research provides new insights for management so that they can consider gender in the selection of committee audit to be appointed by the company with regard to the financial reporting process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Kamarul Abdul Manaf

Whether audit committee (AC) could discharge its responsibility effectively in monitoring financial reporting process has been an important issue in accounting literature. This paper examines whether AC characteristics are important factors in constraining earnings manipulation. In particular, we examine the effect of AC competence, independence, meeting and size on real earnings management. The sample is public firms listed on Bursa Malaysia over the period 2014-2017. Our results show that AC competence is important characteristic that could curb real earnings management. As the level of competence increases, the level of real earnings management decreases. We also find that AC meeting is positively associated with real earnings management. The result suggest that AC meets more often when there are issues in financial reporting. However, AC independence and size have no relationship with real earnings management. This study provides insights on the role of AC with policy implication on regulator.


2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Joe ◽  
Arnold Wright, and ◽  
Sally Wright

SUMMARY We present evidence on the resolution of proposed audit adjustments during a unique time period, immediately following several U.S. financial scandals and surrounding calls for reforms in auditing and financial reporting, which culminated in the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). During this period, auditors and their clients faced increased scrutiny from investors and regulators. In addition, auditors had to contend with changed incentives, a new external regulator (i.e., the PCAOB), and upcoming annual PCAOB inspections. We extend prior studies by considering a broader range of factors potentially impacting the resolution of proposed adjustments, including the effect of client tenure, strength of internal controls, and repeat adjustments. Data on 458 proposed adjustments are obtained from the working papers of a sample of 163 audit engagements conducted during 2002 by a Big 4 firm. We find that 24.2 percent of proposed adjustments were subsequently waived. The results indicate audit adjustments are more likely to be waived for clients with whom the audit firm has had a longer relationship, although the pattern does not reflect favoring such clients. We also find that adjustments are more likely to be waived for repeat adjustments. Data Availability: Due to a confidentiality agreement with the participating audit firm the data are proprietary.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 6080
Author(s):  
Meral Gündüz

Companies, by use of the flexibility of alternative applications in accounting system, apply profit management by organizing the financial tables unequal to the real situations. Profit management is to interfere external financial reporting process in order to gain special profits. With profit management, the main aim is to affect decisions and plans of the investors and the other financial information usersEarnings management is a kind of management which uses accounting techniques to meet the executives needs for earnings; it is a widely debated topic, hence it is worth looking at. Experts and professionals in this area found many approaches to detect the earnings management; within these approaches are the accrual-based models which include the modified Jones model, which currently is a favourite model to many researchers. In the study is aim to determine the earnings management application the data of 81 companies which were in business in Istanbul stock market (BIST-100) manufacturing industry between the years 2013-2015 is used. In this study regression analysis was made by using Modified Jones model and investigated whether their earnings management application or not , has also targeted to determine the companies applying for earnings management.The distribution of the average of discretionary accruals calculated for years as each company is analyzed; average of discretionary accruals shows a normal distribution, in this situation, It was concluded that there was no impact on the economic development of total accruals, depending on the establisded regression model. It can be expressed that the companies were in tendency to increase revenues for 2014 year and to decrease in revenue for 2013 and 2015 years.  In addition, companies which tend to manipulation in this study were identified. Özetİşletmeler, muhasebe sistemindeki alternatif uygulamaların sağladığı esneklikten yararlanarak, finansal tabloları gerçekte olduğundan farklı gösterecek şekilde düzenlemek suretiyle kazanç yönetimi uygularlar. Kazanç yönetimi, özel kazançlar elde etmeye yönelik dışsal finansal raporlama sürecine bu amaçlara uygun olarak müdahale etmektir. Kazanç yönetimi ile yatırımcıların ve diğer finansal bilgi kullanıcılarının karar ve düşüncelerini etkilemek amaçlanmaktadır.Kazanç yönetimi, yöneticilerin kazanç ihtiyaçlarını karşılamak amacıyla kullandıkları çok tartışılan bu yüzden araştırılmaya değer bir yöntemdir. Bu alanda uzman ve profesyoneller kazanç yönetimini tespit etmek için birçok yaklaşımı bulmuşlardır ki bu yaklaşımlar arasında birçok araştırmacı tarafından favori model kabul edilen tahakkuk esaslı Düzeltilmiş Jones Modelidir.Kazanç yönetimi uygulamalarının belirlenmesini amaçlayan bu çalışmada, BİST 100 endeksindeki 81 şirketin 2013-2015 yılları arasındaki verilerinden faydalanılmıştır. Araştırmada literatürde yer alan Düzeltilmiş Jones Modeli kullanılarak regresyon analizi yapılmış ve bu yöntemle şirketlerin kazanç yönetimi uygulaması yapıp yapmadığı araştırılmış, ayrıca kazanç yönetimi uygulayan şirketlerin belirlenmesine yönelik çalışma hedeflenmiştir. Yıllar itibariyle her bir şirket için hesaplanan ihtiyari tahakkukların ortalamalarının dağılımı incelendiğinde; ihtiyari tahakkukların ortalamalarının normal dağılım gösterdiği, bu durumunda kurulan regresyon modeline bağlı olarak toplam tahakkuklar üzerinde ekonomik gelişmelerin bir etkisinin olmadığı sonucuna varılmıştır.  Analiz sonucuna göre şirketlerin 2013 ve 2015 yıllarında gelir azaltıcı ve 2014 yılında gelir artırıcı bir manipülasyon eğiliminde oldukları ifade edilebilir. Ayrıca bu çalışmada kazanç yönetimi eğiliminde olan şirketler belirlenmiştir.


Author(s):  
Paul J. Carruth

In todays financial markets there is a great deal of pressure for corporations to meet investors earnings expectations. Failure to do so may result in the loss of millions of dollars in stock capitalization. As a result, an increasing number of corporate executives have succumbed to the temptation to manage their earnings in order to achieve targeted profits. The number of companies under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for possible accounting fraud related to earnings management has increased significantly in recent years. This article identifies and discusses four common areas of potential financial reporting abuse: restructuring costs, miscellaneous reserve accounts, materiality, and manipulation of revenue recognition. In addition, this paper discusses the vital role of accounting professionals as gatekeepers responsible for helping to maintain the viability of our financial markets.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 312-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Gaio ◽  
Inês Pinto

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of state ownership on financial reporting quality regarding the characteristics of conservatism and earnings management. Design/methodology/approach Using a large sample of public and private European firms during the period 2003-2010, the authors test the hypotheses following Ball and Shivakumar’s (2005) model for conservatism and the modified Jones (1991) model proposed by Dechow and Sloan (1995) for earnings management. To ensure that the results are robust, the authors conduct sensitivity analysis with regard to potential endogeneity and selection bias. Findings The authors find that state-owned firms are less conservative than non-state-owned firms, which is consistent with the idea that there is less need for accounting conservatism due to government protection. The authors also show that capital markets play an important role in shaping the relation between state ownership and earnings management. Among public firms, the authors find that state-owned firms have higher abnormal accruals and worse accruals quality than non-state-owned firms, which suggests that state-owned firms are not immune to capital market pressures. Research limitations/implications The study has two limitations. First, as state-owned and non-state-owned firms face quite different incentive structures, management behavior might be determined by factors that have yet to be identified. Second, prior research results suggest an inverted U-shape relation between ownership concentration and earnings management (Ding et al., 2007). It would be interesting to investigate the impact of different levels of state ownership on earnings quality. Practical implications As the paper investigates the role of state ownership on earnings quality using a sample of European firms, it brings new insights regarding the role of state ownership in accounting quality and firm performance. In addition, it considers the role of capital markets in the relation between the quality of financial reporting and ownership by considering a sample with both public and private firms. Originality/value The study contributes to the debate about state intervention in the corporate sector, by extending the knowledge of the effects of government ownership on earnings quality by using a large sample of European firms. Furthermore, the authors also introduce the effect of capital market forces on managers’ behavior in state-owned and non-state-owned companies by analyzing private and publicly listed firms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Ravaela Amba Masiku ◽  
Christine Novita Dewi

The purpose of this study is to examine auditor’s concervatism in term of their reaction to client’s earnings management behavior and their limitations to issue the going concern opinions (GCO). The population of this study consists of 672 observations from 69 companies are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) during 2012-2017. The author used the modified Jones model to measure discretionary accruals as a proxy of earnings management. The results of this study indicate that size of audit firm has a positive effect to discretionary accrual. Companies that have been audited by the Big4 tend to apply discretionary accrual in their financial reporting than companies audited by Non-Big4. Further, to strenghten the first hypothesis, we examine the effect of discretionary accruals and going concern opinion on companies that audited by audit firms Big4 lower than companies that audited by audit firms Non-Big4. We found that the result is consistent with the first hypothesis. Keywords : auditor reputation, discretionary accruals, going concern opinion, audit firm  ABSTRAK Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menguji konservatisme auditor dalam hal reaksi auditor terhadap akrual diskresioner yang dilakukan oleh perusahaan dan keterbatasan auditor untuk menerbitkan opini Going Concern (GC). Populasi penelitian terdiri dari 672 pengamatan dari 69 perusahaan yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI) selama tahun 2012-2017. Penulis menggunakan model modifikasi Jones untuk mengukur akrual diskresioner sebagai proksi manajemen laba. Hasil dari penelitian ini menjelaskan bahwa ukuran kantor akuntan publik berpengaruh positif terhadap akrual diskresioner, hal tersebut diperkuat dengan pengaruh akrual diskresioner dan opini audit going concern yang diaudit oleh kantor akuntan publik Big4 lebih rendah dari perusahaan yang tidak diaudit oleh kantor akuntan publik Non-Big4. Kata kunci : reputasi auditor, akrual diskresioner, opini audit going concern, kantor akuntan publik


2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 151-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. Ege ◽  
Young Hoon Kim ◽  
Dechun Wang

ABSTRACT Brand name audit firms are global networks of local audit firms. These networks claim to enforce consistent audit methodologies across their member firms, which, if true, should systematically affect client financial reporting. We find that clients from different countries have more (less) comparable accruals when they are audited by local audit firms from the same global network (different global networks). Furthermore, inferences are similar when we examine client accrual comparability around audit firm switches induced by the failure of Andersen, which serves as a shock that helps improve identification. In falsification tests, having auditors from the same global network is not associated with differences in operating cash flows. Results also suggest that the role of global network methodologies in global financial reporting comparability is more pronounced across stronger investor protection jurisdictions and across jurisdictions that have adopted International Standards on Auditing. JEL Classifications: M41; M42.


2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 2515-2536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan S. Pyzoha

ABSTRACT Prior archival studies find that firms that voluntarily adopted clawback policies have experienced a reduction in restatements. I experimentally examine this outcome by investigating the influence of two key factors (i.e., executive compensation structure and auditor quality) on financial reporting executives' (hereafter, “executives”) decision-making regarding a proposed restatement that will lead to a clawback of their incentives. I find that executives (i.e., CFOs, controllers, and treasurers) facing a lower quality auditor are less likely to agree with amending prior financial statements when a higher proportion of their pay is incentive-based. However, this tendency is reduced when executives face a higher quality auditor, indicating that higher quality auditors can act as effective monitors. My results identify an ex post unintended consequence of clawback regulation that could at least partially offset the benefits of the ex ante deterrent effects of clawbacks, and that could contribute to findings of less frequent restatements when clawback policies are in place. I discuss potential implications regarding the role of executives during restatement decisions and auditors' risk assessments in a clawback environment. Data Availability: Data are available from the author upon request.


2015 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 1167-1194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Guo ◽  
Pinghsun Huang ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Nan Zhou

ABSTRACT This study investigates the role of employment policies in reducing internal control ineffectiveness and financial restatements. We provide new evidence that employee treatment policies are an important predictor of ineffective internal control. We also find that employee-friendly policies significantly reduce the propensity for employee-related material weaknesses. These results suggest that greater employee benefits facilitate the acquisition, development, and motivation of the workforce and ameliorate the loss of valuable human capital, thereby mitigating employee failures to implement internal control tasks properly. Moreover, we document novel results that financial restatements, especially those caused by unintentional errors, are less likely to arise in firms that invest more in employee benefits. Collectively, our emphasis on the effect of employee treatment policies on the integrity of internal control and financial reporting distinguishes our paper from previous studies that focus on the role of top executives in accounting practices. Data Availability: Data are available from public sources indicated in the text.


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