Takiah Mohd Iskandar

Audit committee characteristics and earnings management: evidence from Malaysia

Purpose - Conflicts between managers and outside auditors may exist in choosing alternative accounting procedures. Since auditors are appointed by the firm, they are subject to dismissal if divergent opinions cannot be resolved. To a lesser extent, financial reports are often negotiated. In order to produce unbiased financial reports, audit committee members are appointed to act independently in order to resolve conflicts between the managers and outside auditors. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of some audit committee characteristics, i.e. the independence of members, size, frequency of meeting and knowledge of the members, to monitor management behavior with respect to their incentives to manage earnings. Design/methodology/approach - This paper uses discretionary accruals obtained from the established model as a signal of the presence of earnings management. Findings - The evidence shows that the presence of a fully independent audit committee reduces earnings management practices. It was also found that firms which had more knowledgeable audit committee members and held more audit committee meetings recorded fewer earnings management practices compared with other firms. Originality/value - This paper is different from prior studies, in that it makes a significant contribution towards enhancing ones knowledge in the interacting role of audit committee characteristics.

Audit committee characteristics in financially distressed and non‐distressed companies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there is any difference in the characteristics of an audit committee between financially distressed and non-distressed companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia (formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange). Financial distress among big companies is a sign of weak corporate governance, of which the audit committee is one of elements. Four characteristics of the audit committee being examined are size, independence, activity, and accounting knowledge. Design/methodology/approach - The sample comprises 73 financially distressed and the matched pair of 73 financially non-distressed listed companies. The financially distressed companies have been suspended from the listing under the provision of the practice note 4 (PN4) of the listing requirements. Findings - Results show that financial distress of companies has a significant negative association with financial literacy of the audit committee and the quality of external audit. Research limitations/implications - The finding is limited to PN4 companies and the selected match of the non-PN4. Results may not be generalized to other companies that are faced with financial difficulties but are not classified as financially distressed under the PN4 provision. Practical implications - The paper does not examine other qualitative factors such as the culture and dynamics of audit committee meetings which may have effect on the audit committee performance. An examination on the issue requires a different research design. Hence, further research is needed to address the issue. Originality/value - The evidence suggests that financial literacy of audit committee members is a significant factor which helps the audit committee enhance the financial performance of the company. It also suggests that a quality external audit, in addition to an effective audit committee, enhances company financial performance.

Industry type: a factor in materiality judgements and risk assessments

The absence of clear guidelines as to how materiality should be judged has created problems for accountants and auditors, and resulted in risks to users of financial statements. Results of past research indicate a great lack of consensus within a judgement group (e.g. auditors) and a large degree of diversity between groups (e.g. auditors v. statement preparers), with respect to the appropriate materiality threshold. Based on past research concludes that industry, an important contextual variable in materiality judgements, may be responsible for the inconsistencies in judgements in the past. The close relationship between materiality and audit risk suggests that the type of industry may have a similar impact on risk assessments. Proposes that industry effects on materiality judgements and risk assessments be further investigated. Also suggests the need for industry‐specific guidelines for materiality and audit risk.

Organizational commitment and emotional intelligent: Explaining the interaction of personality traits of auditors

This study examines the relationship between personality traits and performance of auditors in making audit judgment. We used hierarchical regression analysis to investigate relationships of direct and interaction effects at between-person levels of analysis. Participants comprised of auditors and audit trainees performing internal controls audit task. As expected, the relationship between organizational commitment and emotional intelligent were positively related to audit judgment performance. This positive relationship was stronger for auditors in the expert group than in the novice group. Results highlight the importance of both organizational commitment and emotional intelligence in audit judgment framework to enhance understanding of the link between personality traits and performance.

Professional skepticism and auditors’ assessment of misstatement risks: The moderating effect of experience and time budget pressure

DOI: 10.14254/2071789X.2017/10-4/17 ABSTRACT. Background: This study employs a field experiment to examine the relationship between professional skepticism, experience, and time budget pressure on auditors’ assessment of risk of misstatement. In addition, the study examines the moderating effect of experience and time budget pressure on the relationship between professional skepticism and auditors’ assessment of risk from material misstatements; 2) Method: This study employs a multiple regression analysis on 248 auditors from both Big4 and non-Big4 firms; 3) The results indicate that professional skepticism and experience have positive effects while time budget pressure has a negative effect on auditors’ assessment of risk from material misstatements; and 4) The positive effect of professional skepticism on auditors’ assessment of risk from material misstatement is stronger among more experienced auditors than that among less experienced. On the other hand, the positive effect of professional skepticism on risk assessment is weaker when auditors work under high time budget pressure than that when they work under low time budget pressure. Additional analysis on the samples from the two selected areas, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, produces consistent results indicating that the use of separate models for different samples is not necessary. Hence, the study uses a single model for the final analysis. The results provide a better understanding on whether the auditors are able to sustain professional skepticism with a given amount of relevant audit experience and under different levels of time budget pressure.

Financial management performance of public sector: quality of internal auditor

This study examines the relationship between internal audit functions and financial management performance in the public sector in Malaysia. The internal auditor is entrusted with a monitoring responsibility to ensure the integrity of the management of public funds. The need for effective monitoring by an internal auditor is increasing as a result of the Auditor General Report concerning weaknesses in the financial management of the public sector. The present study conducts a survey on 80 internal audit units of government agencies and organisations. Financial management performance is measured using the Financial Management Accountability Index issued by the National Audit Department. The results show that the effectiveness of internal audits in enhancing the financial management of public sector relates significantly to the competency of internal auditors, the size of internal audit units, and cooperation between the internal auditors and audit committees. The findings have policy implications concerning the staffing and training programmes of internal audit units that will help improve financial management performance in the public sector.

Conflict of opinion on accounting policy judgements: independence, knowledge and problem–solving ability of audit committees in Malaysia

This study employs a field experiment to investigate the effectiveness of audit committee monitoring role. The study relates three audit committee characteristics, independence, financial knowledge and problem-solving ability with judgements on conflicts of opinion between management and auditors on accounting policy. Participants are members of audit committees of public listed companies in Malaysia. Using a Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis, results show that independence, financial knowledge and ability to solve problems influence audit committee judgements. Financial knowledge mediates the effect of problem-solving ability on the judgements. There is a need for a proper membership selection policy to improve audit committee effectiveness.