Search results for "Internal audit"
showing 10 items of 41 documents
Audit Quality and Corporate Governance: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry
2012
This study uses a unique, hand-collected sample of microfinance institutions from 73 countries that typically are not investigated in accounting research to analyze the relationships between audit quality and governance mechanisms. We examine two measures of audit quality, namely, the use of Big Four auditors and the presence of internal auditors who report to the boards of these institutions. The empirical analysis of this study reveals that these two quality metrics are highly related, although we also demonstrate that these metrics capture distinctive aspects of audit quality. In particular, the presence of internal auditors is related to other indicators of stricter governance, whereas …
Internal audit professional principles and academic literature over the last decade: is there a gap to bridge
2022
The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) has defined the ethical principles internal auditors must adhere to, allowing them to create a common understanding of ethical behaviour within their profession, thereby promoting ethical culture. This paper aims to analyse the role of these principles in the main branches of internal audit research over the last decade. We examine the most important articles published in this field and categorise them into seven main strands. We assess the extent to which these strands focus on the IIA ethical principles, aiming to identify research gaps in the extant literature. Our findings show that the literature dealing with ethical principles in the recruitmen…
Academic Practitioner Auditors
2016
Academic practitioner auditors engage in academic research on top of their audit activities. Based on constructive learnings theory and evidence-based management theory, we argue that engaging in research helps lead auditors to deliver higher audit quality. Moreover, we expect that this engagement enables lead auditors to develop their professional reputation and, hence, to generate higher audit fees. Using data from Germany, where lead auditors frequently engage in research, we find empirical evidence for these conjectures. Our study contributes to the current AAA and AICPA debate about the value of bridging the gap between academia and audit practice.
Indicatori Chiave Per L’IA: il Metodo Bankitalia
2020
La Funzione di Revisione Interna della Banca d’Italia ha rivisto il proprio sistema di Key Performance Indicator. Obiettivo: farne uno strumento di guida strategica e creare un metodo innovativo per misurare il valore aggiunto apportato all’Istituto.
Was the European Commission Green Paper Right? An Evaluation of the French Experience with Joint Auditing
2012
The Green Paper entitled “Audit policy: Lessons from the crisis” (European Commission, 2010) recommends the introduction of joint audit for European listed companies, based on the French experience, to limit the market dominance of the Big 4 and to promote audit quality. However, the regulation passed by the European Parliament in April 2014 does not require, but only encourages the use of two auditors for public-interest entities (European Parliament, 2014). Since many groups of interests tried to influence the European Commission during the consultation process, it is relevant to evaluate the costs and benefits for investors of the unique joint audit system that persists among the occiden…
What Dimensions of Lead Auditor Expertise Matter for Audit Quality and Audit Fees?
2015
This study investigates the effects of lead auditors’ technical and managerial knowledge on audit quality and audit fees. The German institutional environment enables us to track auditors over their careers and measure their various personal attributes. We find that lead auditors’ technical knowledge is more important for audit quality than their managerial knowledge; however, their managerial knowledge is a more influential driver of audit fees than their technical knowledge. The results of various identification strategies including firm-fixed effects models, propensity-score matching, and instrumental variables approaches suggest that the observed relations are treatment rather than sele…
New Challenges of Economic and Business Development – 2012 : Conference Proceedings (May 10 - 12, 2012, Riga, University of Latvia)
2012
Support for Conference Proceedings by ERAF Project "Support for the international cooperation projects and other international cooperation activities in research and technology at the University of Latvia" No. 2010/0202/2DP/2.1.1.2.0/10/APIA/VIAA/013
Main drivers of consultancy services: A meta-analytic approach
2016
Abstract This meta-analysis incorporates the results from 34 separate studies examining fee models for consultancy services whereby the consulting firm provides both audit and advisory services to its customers. The findings indicate a number of key determinants of consultancy bills: client size, audit fees, auditors being from a “Big Audit Firm,” client's financial difficulties, and prior experience with the legal auditors. Conversely, the meta-results fail to correlate the variable of interest with several constructs commonly used in consultancy models such as the auditee's inherent risk, the client's financial debt, or the audit opinion. The study also explores the influence of three mod…
Audit Quality and Corporate Governance: Evidence from the Microfinance Industry
2015
This study uses a unique hand-collected sample of for-profit and nonprofit microfinance institutions from 70 developing countries to analyse the relationships between audit quality and governance mechanisms. We examine two measures of audit quality, namely, the use of Big Four auditors and the presence of internal auditors. The empirical analysis of this study reveals that these two quality metrics are highly related, although we also demonstrate that these metrics capture distinctive aspects of audit quality. In particular, the presence of internal auditors is related to other indicators of stricter governance, whereas the use of Big Four auditors is generally unrelated to other governance…
External investigations and disciplinary sanctions against auditors: the impact on audit quality
2015
In this paper, we provide empirical evidence for the impact of disciplinary sanctions imposed on Spanish auditing firms and their engagement partners. The disciplinary sanctions resulted from external investigations, which revealed misapplications of auditing standards. In particular, we evaluate (a) the efficacy of the external supervisory board in identifying low-quality auditors and (b) the effectiveness of the disciplinary system in improving the quality of subsequent statutory audits performed by the sanctioned auditors. We employ two earnings management indicators as proxies for audit quality: loss avoidance through extraordinary items and abnormal accruals. And we compare these measu…