AUDITOR TENURE, AUDITOR INDEPENDENCE AND ACCRUAL – BASED EARNINGS MANAGEMENT OF QUOTED COMPANIES IN NIGERIA (Published)
Auditor Tenure defines the length of the auditor-client relationship while auditor independence (measured by the quantum of audit fees received) defines an auditor’s quality of being free from influence, persuasion or bias, and hence the unbiased mental attitude in making decisions throughout the audit and financial reporting process. The absence of independence may greatly impair the value of the audit service and the audit report. On the other hand, an excessively long association between the auditor and his client may constitute a threat to independence. This study examines the relationship and effects of auditor tenure and auditor independence on the earnings management (measured by the amount of discretionary accruals) of companies in Nigeria. The study relies on secondary data derived from various companies’ financial statements and the Nigerian Stock Exchange fact book to determine and measure the level of earnings manipulations in corporate financial statements, applying an all-inclusive multivariate analysis. The empirical analysis using a total of 342 company year observations, shows that Audit tenure and auditor independence exert significant effects and exhibit significant relationship with the amount of discretionary accruals of quoted companies in Nigeria. The descriptive statistics result reveals a minimal presence of discretionary accrual management by the companies in the sample and on the average; about 94% of the companies engage their audit firms for over three years, with a considerable experience of a substantial number of audit firms in this distribution
Keywords: Auditor Independence, Auditor Tenure, Auditors Reports, Discretionary Accrual, Earnings Management
BRIDGING THE EXPECTATIONS GAP BETWEEN AUDITORS REPORTSAND THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE FINANCIAL COMMUNITY “AN EMPIRICAL STUDY KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN” (Published)
Auditing profession is facing challenges on several levels, namely the absence of confidence of the financial community of the reports prepared by them because such reports do not meet the requirements the and only focus on the interests of the owners, which led to frequent financial crises in the business environment.This research aims at identifying the factors that help to bridge the gap between auditors’ expectations and requirements of the financial community at the Kingdom of Bahrain. Therefore, to achieve the goal of this study, a questionnaire has been designed and distributed to the parties related to bridging the gap between auditors and the financial community. To test the probabilities of the research, analytic descriptive statistics has been used. The study has concluded that the orientation of financial reports to make balance between the common interests for the parties shall help to bridge the gap between auditors and financial community and enhance the confidence between them. The statistical study has proved that there is statistical relation between auditors’ reports and the requirement of the financial community which affects the expectations gap between them then recommendations were suggested to reform this fault.
Keywords: : Bridging, Auditors Reports, Expectations Gap, Financial Community, Requirements