Abstract
The study examines the impact of audit committee characteristics on audit reporting time lag of Ghanaian publicly traded companies. We used the size of the audit committee, gender diversity, and financial expertise to measure the characteristics of the audit committee as against the number of days between financial year-end date and audit report completion. The study predicted and found a negative relationship between audit committee gender diversity and audit report time lag. Also, a negative association between the audit committee financial expertise and audit report time lag was established. Furthermore, a negative association was affirmed between audit report time lag and gender diversity of the committee. The study therefore concluded that the audit committee characteristics leads to audit efficiency indicating that audit committee promotes the prompt delivery of the audit report. As a result, the study suggests that companies consider variegating their audit committee board on these characteristics. Keywords : Audit Committee, Audit report time lag, Board size, financial expertise, Gender diversity. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/13-4-01 Publication date: February 28 th 2022
Highlights
The results shows that audit report time lag has a minimum of 42 days and a maximum of 234 days
The findings revealed that audit report time lag is positively correlated with board size, firm age, and firm leverage, whereas audit report time lag is negatively correlated with board independence, firm size, Big4 audit firms and audit committee meetings
The study used the case of listed businesses in Ghana to investigate the impact of audit committee features on audit report time lag in the Sub-Saharan region between the period of 2008 and 2019
Summary
The timeliness of financial report is of great importance to stakeholders just as the quality of the financial report. One of the most significant characteristics of audit quality, according to regulators, professional accountants, and auditors, is timeliness of the audit report (McGee and Tarangelo, 2008; Soltani 2002; Hendriksen and Breda, 1992). A well-written audit report is of little use to management if it is received too late to be fully considered and acted upon. Audit reports can assist a company in planning for the coming year. Organizations will be able to make better budget and financial decisions if financial statements are provided on time. Enhancing financial reporting timeliness boosts value to users (Behn et al, 2006) but when delayed leads to adverse consequences (Carmichael et al, 2011; Mande & Son 2011)
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