Disclosure of Critical Audit Matters, Audit Risk and Audit Opinion

Abstract

We explore the association between the number of critical audit matters and auditing opinion based on the Chinese capital market data. In addition, we investigate the effect of audit risk on the relationship between the number of critical audit matters and auditing opinion. Using 6,662 firm-year observations listed in the Chinese capital market from 2017-2019, we find that the number of critical audit matters has significantly positive association with clear audit opinion. Specially, the greater the number of critical audit matters, the more likely getting clear audit opinion. We also find that the audit risk restricts the effect of the critical audit matters on the audit opinion. Lastly, we find that Big4 accounting firms are less likely to be influenced by the number of critical audit matters; the audit complexity restricts the effect of the critical audit matters on the audit opinion; the more board members, the less effect of the number of critical audit matters on the audit opinion. We also use several robustness tests to strengthen the conclusion. Our research may contribute to the understanding of the new audit standard.