6533b85ffe1ef96bd12c23af

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Audit Reports on Financial Statements Prepared According to IASB Standards: Empirical Evidence from the European Union

subject

description

This paper examines the audit report of 147 firms from the European Union that prepare their financial statements in compliance with the standards developed by the International Accounting Standards Board. Bearing in mind that the consolidated accounts of listed companies will follow IAS from 2005 onwards, the purpose of this paper is to provide some insight into the current outcome of the statutory audit on this information. Interesting conclusions are drawn from this empirical study with regard to the auditing standards applied, the wording used and the differences observed between reports produced by auditors from the big firms and reports from different European countries. The need to harmonise the auditing field is discussed under the results obtained, with the final aim to contribute to the standard-setting debate on the creation of a high quality financial reporting system in the European Union.