Education Requirements, Audit Fees, and Audit Quality

2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Allen ◽  
Angela Woodland
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Quality Of Work ◽  
Education Requirements ◽  
Additional Education ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Audit Services Market

SUMMARY: We examine whether additional education requirements to enter the accounting profession lead to higher costs to clients. Using the 150-hour education requirement in the U.S. and the audit services market during the period 2000–2004 as the setting for our study, we find that corporations headquartered in states that have implemented the 150-hour requirement pay, on average, 4.8 percent more in audit fees than corporations in states that have not implemented the 150-hour requirement. Additionally, we find that audit fees increase as time passes after implementing additional education requirements. We also provide evidence that corporations headquartered in states with higher general wage levels pay higher audit fees. In supplementary analyses, we do not find an association between additional education requirements and differential quality of work product as measured by discretionary accruals.

U.S.-Listed Foreign Companies' Choice of a U.S.-Based versus Home Country-Based Big N Principal Auditor and the Effect on Audit Fees and Earnings Quality

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 631-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharad C. Asthana ◽  
K. K. Raman ◽  
Hongkang Xu
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Foreign Companies ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Just Price ◽  
Reporting Environment ◽  
The U.S

SYNOPSIS We examine why U.S.-listed foreign companies choose to have a U.S.-based (rather than home country-based) Big N firm as their principal auditor for SEC reporting purposes and the effects of that choice for audit fees and earnings quality. We find that the likelihood of the Big N principal auditor being U.S.-based is decreasing in client size and the level of investor protection in the home country, and increasing in the proportion of income earned outside the home country. We also find compelling evidence that U.S.-based Big N auditors are associated with higher-quality earnings (albeit for a higher fee), despite two factors—the greater distance between the U.S.-based (vis-à-vis home country-based) Big N auditor and the client, and the likelihood that much of the audit work is done outside the U.S.—which potentially could lower the earnings quality of the U.S.-listed foreign client when the Big N principal auditor is U.S.-based. Overall, our study suggests that the higher fees associated with a U.S.-based Big N principal auditor is not just price protection; rather, U.S.-based Big N principal auditors are also improving the financial reporting environment by reporting higher-quality audited earnings for their U.S.-listed foreign clients. JEL Classifications: L11; L15; M42.

Who Did the Audit? Audit Quality and Disclosures of Other Audit Participants in PCAOB Filings

2014 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 1939-1967 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Callaway Dee ◽  
Ayalew Lulseged ◽  
Tianming Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Market Reaction ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Multivariate Model ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Earnings Response Coefficients ◽  
Absolute Value ◽  
Earnings Response ◽  
First Time

ABSTRACT We empirically test whether audit quality is affected when part of an SEC issuer's audit is outsourced to auditors other than the principal auditor (“participating auditors”). We find a significantly negative market reaction and a significant decline in earnings response coefficients (ERCs) for experimental issuers disclosed for the first time as having participating auditors involved in their audits. However, we find no market reaction and no decline in ERCs for a matching sample of issuers that are not disclosed as using participating auditors, nor for issuers disclosed for the second or third time as using participating auditors. We also find actual audit quality as measured by absolute value of performance-matched discretionary accruals is lower for the experimental issuers, although we find no difference in audit fees paid by the experimental and matching issuers in a multivariate model. Our findings suggest that the PCAOB's proposed rule requiring disclosure of the use of other auditors in addition to the principal auditor would provide information useful to investors in assessing audit quality for SEC issuers.

scholarly journals An Examination of the Effects of Change in Committee Chair on Audit Quality

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Izhar Haq ◽  
Teresa Lang ◽  
Hongkang Xu
Keyword(s):  
Audit Committee ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Committee Chair ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Predicted Values ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
A Company

This study uses GMI Ratings directorship data from 2008 to 2013 along with the associated financial data to examine the relationship between audit committee chair change with the absolute discretionary accruals in the financial statements of the reporting companies.  Our results suggest that audit committee chair change is positively associated with the absolute discretionary accruals.  Specifically, absolute discretionary accruals are significantly higher when there is a change in the audit committee chair.  These results are consistent with prior research that deviations from the predicted values of accruals is an indicator of “poor” audit quality.  An additional finding of this paper is that a person younger than 60 is more likely to be a new audit committee chair when there is a change and therefore will have less experience and contacts than the outgoing chair. An important implication of these results is that audit committee chair change can have a significant impact on the quality of the financial statements of a company as well as on the audit quality.

scholarly journals Opportunities to improve the measurement of audit quality: a call for collaboration between the profession and academics

2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (9) ◽  
pp. 352-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen van Raak ◽  
Ulrike Thürheimer
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Class Action ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Accrual Quality ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
External Stakeholders ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Considerable Doubt

Audit research relies on a wide range of publicly available measures to examine which factors influence the quality of financial statement audits. While research to date has to rely largely on remote proxies due to a lack of access to proprietary data, there is considerable doubt about the validity of these proxies and the inferences drawn based on these proxies. In order to provide insight into the reliability of these measures, Rajgopal, Srinivasan & Zheng (2015) investigate whether commonly used proxies for audit quality (i.e. auditor size, abnormal audit fees, accrual quality, and the propensity to meet and beat analyst targets) are associated with deficiencies reported in SEC investigations and class-action lawsuits. Such alleged deficiencies reflect how external stakeholders assess audit performance. Their study indicates that the use of such proxies is highly problematic and that the performance of these measures, with the exception of auditor size, is poor.

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.

Overseeing the external audit function: Evidence from audit committees’ reported activities

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Bratten ◽  
Monika Causholli ◽  
Valbona Sulcaj
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Audit Committees ◽  
Composite Measure ◽  
External Audit ◽  
Earnings Benchmarks ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
External Auditor

Recently, in response to calls for more transparency, many firms have begun reporting the activities undertaken by their audit committees in overseeing the work of the external auditor. We use a composite measure of audit committees’ reported oversight activities for a sample of S&P 1500 firms and examine the extent to which these reported activities are associated with audit quality. We find that when firms’ audit committees report exerting strong oversight, they have higher audit quality as proxied by audit fees, discretionary accruals, the likelihood of meeting or beating earnings benchmarks, and restatements. We also find that the market reacts positively to reports indicating strong oversight, consistent with perceptions of higher audit quality. This study extends prior literature on audit committees by introducing a new comprehensive measure of audit committees’ reported oversight activities and sheds light on how these activities map into audit quality.

scholarly journals Do Abnormally High Audit Fees Impair Audit Quality?

2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Hag Choi ◽  
Jeong-Bon Kim ◽  
Yoonseok Zang
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Normal Level ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Audit Fee ◽  
The Difference

SUMMARY: This study examines whether and how audit quality proxied by the magnitude of absolute discretionary accruals is associated with abnormal audit fees, that is, the difference between actual audit fee and the expected, normal level of audit fee. The results of various regressions reveal that the association between the two is asymmetric, depending on the sign of the abnormal audit fee. For observations with negative abnormal audit fees, there is no significant association between audit quality and abnormal audit fee. In contrast, abnormal audit fees are negatively associated with audit quality for observations with positive abnormal audit fees. Our findings suggest that auditors’ incentives to deter biased financial reporting differ systematically, depending on whether their clients pay more than or less than the normal level of audit fee. Our results are robust to a variety of sensitivity checks.

How Would the Mandatory Adoption of IFRS Affect the Earnings Quality of U.S. Firms? Evidence from Cross-Listed Firms in the U.S.

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 837-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Sun ◽  
Steven F. Cahan ◽  
David Emanuel
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Earnings Persistence ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Timely Loss Recognition ◽  
The U.S

SYNOPSIS We examine the impact of IFRS adoption on the earnings quality of foreign firms cross-listed in the U.S. from countries that have already adopted IFRS on a mandatory basis. We use the cross-listed firms as surrogates for the U.S. firms so we can observe the effect of IFRS adoption in the U.S. We examine five measures of earnings quality related to discretionary accruals, target beating, earnings persistence, timely loss recognition, and the earnings response coefficient (ERC). To isolate the effect of IFRS adoption, we use a matched sample design where each cross-listed firm is matched to a U.S. firm. We find the difference in earnings quality from the pre- to post-IFRS period is not different for the cross-listed and matched firms when earnings quality is measured by absolute discretionary accruals, timely loss recognition, or a long-window ERC. However, for the incidence of small positive earnings and earnings persistence, we find significant difference-in-differences, indicating that IFRS adoption led to an improvement in earnings quality for cross-listed firms relative to the matched firms. Our results are slightly surprising since U.S. GAAP is generally viewed as high-quality standards with little room for improvement.

scholarly journals Can Emotional Intelligence Help in Reducing Auditor’s Engagement in Quality Threatening Behaviours?

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-73
Author(s):  
Muhammad Aamir ◽  
Siti Zaleha Abdul Rasid ◽  
Shathees Baskaran ◽  
Fadillah Binti Ismail ◽  
Faiza Manzoor
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
The Other ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
Regulatory Bodies ◽  
Emotionally Intelligent

Quality Threatening Behaviours (QTBs) in auditing are associated with reduced audit quality and are under the focus of researchers and practitioners for the last two decades following the major corporate failures around the globe.  QTBs are a constant threat for audit profession and lawmakers, regulatory bodies, practitioners and researchers are striving to reduce auditors’ engagement in these undesirable behaviours.  Existing literature advocates that emotional intelligence (EI) meaningfully affects workplace behaviours. Wong and Law (2002) affirm that emotional intelligence is linked to job performance.  Emotionally intelligent individuals respond to negative issues related to work in a better way (Greenidge, Devonish, & Alleyne, 2014).  On the other hand, individuals who score low on emotional intelligence face problems in regulating emotions instigated by negative work practices reacting in a manner that can be detrimental for the organization and its members (Quebbeman and Rozell, 2002).  Emotional intelligence is equally important for individuals in the accounting profession (Daff, de Lange, & Jackling, 2012).  Akers and Porter (2003) proclaim that “EI skills are critical for the success of the accounting profession” (p. 65).  Auditing is a frantic occupation that causes pressure on auditors (Fisher, 2001) that fetch damaging outcomes.  Negative behaviours of auditors are caused by different pressures and lessen the quality of audit, emotional intelligence ability can help auditors in avoiding indulgence in these behaviours (Yang, Brink, & Wier, 2018). Grounding on the role of emotional intelligence at work across different contexts and its ability to negatively affect harmful workplace behaviours, it can be inferred that emotional intelligence can reduce auditors engagement in quality threatening audit behaviours.

scholarly journals A theoretical approach to auditor independence and audit quality

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-141
Author(s):  
Rahman Yakubu ◽  
Tracey Williams
Keyword(s):  
Audit Committee ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Auditor Independence ◽  
Accounting Scandals ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

Auditor independence and the quality of audit report is of growing concern to regulators, institutional investors and stakeholders as a series of accounting scandals have undermined the professionalism of auditors. The findings from this study produced an insight of how auditor’s independence improve audit quality and that abnormal audit fees is as a result of additional effort for auditor to carry out rigorous audit engagement as a result of wider audit scope; that mandatory audit firm rotation will enhance auditor independence, and that audit committee with nonexecutive independence will promote audit quality. The study also finds that in terms of auditor size, smaller audit firms that belong to professional bodies will provide higher audit quality. The main conclusion of this research is that where an auditor is fully independent in carrying out audit engagement with strong resistance to fees pressure will enhance audit quality. This research provides insight into the impact of IFRS adoption on audit fees.

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