Comparative Local Government Auditing: Audit Timing in the US and the UK

Abstract

Assuming that regulations and incentives are the same, local government auditing should be similar across countries. Therefore, audit timing (the number of days from the end of the fiscal year to the date of the audit opinion on the financial statements) also should be similar across countries. The purpose of this analysis is to compare samples of local governments from the two countries using OLS regression to see what factors may explain these differences. The focus is comparative, rather than explanatory. That is, a single model is used across a sample of local governments in the two countries. If the purpose had been explanatory, the models would have been developed separately to capture unique factors in each country. While either approach has advantages, this study is an attempt to begin empirical comparative research in local government accounting and auditing. While each country has unique cultural, historical and regulatory systems, comparing empirical findings should result in a better understanding of accounting and auditing structures and theories.