Auditor-client geographic proximity and audit report timeliness

Abstract

While investors and regulators value the timely release of audited financial information, recent changes in the regulatory environment have increased the difficulty of providing timely audited financial information. In this paper we examine the association between auditor-client geographic proximity and external audit report delay, since identifying the factors that influence audit delay remains an important issue. We find strong evidence that audit reports are more timely for geographically proximate auditors and clients. Further, we show that the improvement in audit report timeliness is more pronounced for non-accelerated filers relative to accelerated filers. These results are robust to controls for potential self-selection bias.