Independent Auditor's Report Research Articles

Crowdfrauding: Avoiding Ponzi entrepreneurs when investing in new ventures

Crowdfunding has gained substantial interest in the U.S., allowing entrepreneurs to raise startup capital in exchange for equity in their ventures. This approach to equity capital can open up new sources of venture finance to legitimate entrepreneurs, but little attention has been given to how it offers new opportunities for illegal entrepreneurs to defraud investors. We adopt a forensic approach to examine entrepreneurs who launch Ponzi ventures—businesses that continually bring in new investors in order to use their money to pay returns to earlier investors—to demonstrate the ease, creativity, and audacity with which these illegal entrepreneurs operate. The provided examples of Ponzi entrepreneurs show how easily they can circumvent the safeguards purported to protect investors: screening by ‘the crowd,’ transparency and documentation requirements, independent audit reports, and withholding of funds until the venture's financial goal has been met. In this article, we offer possible solutions to help protect investors, legitimate entrepreneurs, and business in general from the damage created by illegal entrepreneurs.

Determinan Audit Delay dan Timeliness

<em>Timeliness of drafting or reporting an audit report on the company's financial statements could affect the value of such financial statements. If financial statement information is not delivered in a timely manner, thus it is not relevant which could reduce or eliminate the ability of the financial statements as a prediction tool for users or decision makers. Audit delay is the length of time the audit completion is measured from the date of closing of the financial year until the date of completion of the independent audit report. This study aims to analyze the effect of the companysize, solvency and profitability towards audit delay and timeliness. The populatin of this research was manufacturing companies listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange at 2011-2013, based on purposive sampling 25 companies used as sample. The analysis technique used is multiple regression analysis. The results show that the size of the company, solvency, and profitability simultaneously and partially affect audit delay and timeliness. The most contributed variable towards audit delay is profitability, while most contributed variable towasds the time-liness is the company size.</em>

Audit firm rotation and audit report: evidence from the Tehran Stock Exchange

This research is an attempt to study the relationship between audit firm rotation and audit reports in companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2003 to 2011. Due to the nominal nature of the variables, this study uses a non-parametric chi square distribution test to analyse the collected data. The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between the independent audit firm rotation and audit reports in the companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. In addition, regarding the type of audit firm rotation, the results of the null hypothesis tests implicate that there is no significant relationship between these two variables in the companies under study.

Improving Medication Reconciliation compliance at admission: A single department's experience.

Background and objectivesThe objective of this research is to improve compliance of the medication reconciliation process at the time of patient admission in the Department of Pediatrics at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using an innovative evidence-based approach.Materials and methodsMost of the recent efforts at our institution to revamp the medication reconciliation process have failed. Thus, we implemented an innovative evidence-based approach to improve the compliance of the reconciliation process at admission. This approach focused on the Department of Pediatrics at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC). We established specific educational and monitoring programs that were run over a two-month period, from June to July 2015. The educational program consisted of focused hands-on daily interactive training sessions presented to a small group of residents, i.e., 5–6 residents per session, for a period of one week. One resident was identified as a ”Super-User” to provide ongoing support for the other residents involved in the process. A close monitoring process was also implemented, which included daily follow up and encouragement from three assigned consultants. In addition, periodic independent audit report results prepared by Healthcare Information Technology Affairs (HITA) were communicated to the Department of Pediatrics regarding physician compliance in the medication reconciliation process.ResultsPhysician compliance for admission medication reconciliation documentation in ICIS ranged from (0–15%) between the first quarter of 2012 and the first quarter 2015, we designated the official hospital audit for the first quarter of 2015 as a baseline audit report. Between the first quarter of 2012 and 2015, the physician compliance for admission medication reconciliation was ranged between 0 to 15% according to the official hospital audit. We implemented our initiative during the months of June and July 2015. During that time, there was a gradual improvement in the number of admission medication reconciliations reported by the independent audits of our general Pediatrics Ward (B1), which represents the majority of pediatric admissions. The 57% of 26 patients had medication reconciliation completed by the first report dated 16 June 2015. This percentage improved to 92% out of a total of 13 patients at the last report on 12 July 2015. This consistent improvement also occurred in other areas where pediatric patients were admitted including the B3-1 (from 88% to 90%), the NICU 1 (from 83% to 100%) and the NICU 2 (from 90% to 100%).ConclusionsBy structuring and implementing intensive educational and monitoring programs, a marked improvement in the compliance of medication reconciliation at the time of admission for the pediatric patient population was achieved. We believe that our department-based results would be generalizable if a similar hospital-wide programme was to be rigorously implemented.

Independent Auditor's Report

Independent Auditor's Report

Determining county government fiscal instability: Independent audit report findings and the prompting of state action

Decreasing revenues among local governments across the country have placed an increased focus on governmental financial practices. For states with local government financial oversight organizations, the ratios and other benchmarks used to assess fiscal stability face increased scrutiny. This study examines financial reports sent to North Carolina’s financial oversight body, the Local Government Commission (LGC), to determine the types of operational and policy practices that can lead to fiscal stress based on guidelines established by the LGC. Findings indicate that lowering levels of fund balance, increased salaries, increased debt service levels, and the presence of a countywide water system all increased the probability of a county government receiving notice of potential financing problems requiring immediate action.

The effect of independent auditor's report on profit distribution policy: Evidence from Tehran Stock Exchange

Article history: Received January 4, 2014 Accepted 1 June 2014 Available online June 5 2014 Profit distribution is one of the most debatable subjects in financial field. Opposite theoretical models that sometimes, do not have a strong empirical support look for the explanation of corporate dividend policy. In this paper, the relationship between profit sharing policy and auditor`s and managers’ expected profit is studied. The study gathers the necessary information of 99 firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2002-2011. The implementation of regression analysis shows that there was more explanatory power of auditors’ expected profit than managers’ expected profit in dividends. The results also show that there was no meaningful difference between auditors` expected profit and managers` expected profit. © 2014 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Disclosure of a Component Auditor in the Independent Auditor's Report and Financial Reporting Quality

The Disclosure of a Component Auditor in the Independent Auditor's Report and Financial Reporting Quality

Independent Auditor's Report

Independent Auditor's Report

A Summary of 10 Years of PCAOB Research: What Have We Learned?

On January 6, 2003, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) opened its Washington, D.C. office. Three days later, the PCAOB held its first open board meeting, affirming its position as the first external regulator of the auditing profession. The PCAOB was established six months earlier with the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) to protect the interests of investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, accurate and independent audit reports [U.S. Congress 2002]. Researchers, regulators, and practitioners have been attempting to understand the influence and effects of the PCAOB for over a decade. What impact has the PCAOB inspection process had on the auditing profession and audit quality? How do markets react to information disseminated by the PCAOB? How have PCAOB standards influenced auditor behavior? Accordingly, the objective of our paper is to review prior studies related to the four primary functions of the PCAOB (registration, standard-setting, inspections, and enforcement), provide answers to these questions to the extent possible given extant research, and suggest directions for future research to address unanswered questions.

Independent Auditor's Report

Independent Auditor's Report

Corporate governance and the timeliness of financial reporting: a comparative study of the People's Republic of China, the USA and the European Union

PurposeTimeliness of financial reporting is one of the attributes of good corporate governance identified by the OECD and World Bank. Shareholders and other stakeholders need information while it is still fresh and the more time that passes between year‐end and disclosure, the more stale the information becomes and the less value it has. This paper aims to examine the timeliness of financial reporting in the People's Republic of China and to compare it to timeliness in the USA and the European Union (EU).Design/methodology/approachThe timeliness of financial reporting was measured by counting the number of days that elapsed between year‐end and the date of the independent auditor's report for Chinese companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and a selection of public companies in the USA and EU. Results were then compared to determine whether there was a significant difference. This study also compares timeliness data on the basis of audit firm to determine whether companies audited by one of the Big‐4 firms are more timely in their financial reporting than are companies audited by Chinese audit firms.FindingsThe paper finds that Chinese companies took significantly longer to report financial results than either the EU or US companies. EU companies took significantly longer to report financial results than US companies. The vast majority of Chinese company audits were not conducted by the Big‐4 accounting firms.Practical implicationsCompanies that are not timely in their financial reporting practices find it more difficult to attract capital. Their corporate governance practices are also seen as less than ideal, which has a negative effect on a company's reputation within the financial community. Thus, Chinese companies that are slow in reporting their financial results may suffer negative consequences in terms of reputation and ability to raise capital, all other things being equal.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to compare the timeliness of financial reporting for the People's Republic of China, the USA and the European Union.

AAAI News: Winter News from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence

Winter news from the Association for Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Includes the Independent Auditor's Report.

Independent Auditor's Report

Independent Auditor's Report

Independent Auditor's Report

Independent Auditor's Report

AAAI News: Spring News from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence

Spring news from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, including the independent auditor's report.

Independent Auditor's Report

Independent Auditor's Report

PCAOB: Is it Constitutional or Not?

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is a private-sector, non-profit corporation, created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, to oversee the auditors of public companies to protect the interests of investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, fair, and independent audit reports. Recently, the Board is faced with a case filed by Free Enterprise Fund regarding the separation of powers principles and Appointment Clause by the Constitution. This paper hopes to shed light on what would be the outcome and implication of the case on the Board’s existence as an effective auditing regulatory body.

Auditor Tenure and Audit Quality: Evidence of Mandatory Auditor Rotation in Indonesia

The main objective of this research is to investigate the effect of auditor tenure, both in the audit-firm tenure dimension and in the audit-partner tenure dimension, on audit quality. Debate over auditor rotation has been recurring recently, especially when this requirement is included in the proposed public accountant act. Our study is meant to provide empirical evidence for the debate surrounding the auditor rotation requirements in Indonesia. In this study, we identify the length of auditor tenure from the signature of audit-partner in charge on the independent auditor report. We are able to do so since unlike the U.S., the independent auditor reports in Indonesia expose name and signature of the audit-partner in charge. Using modified Jones model of discretionary accruals as our measure of audit quality, we test our hypothesis on our sample of 1,100 firm-year observations from 212 companies for the period of 1995 to 2001. We find that: (1) audit-firm tenure positively affects audit quality; (2) audit-partner tenure does not affect audit quality; and (3) there is an incremental positive effect of audit-firm tenure on audit quality which cannot be explained by audit-partner tenure. Our results suggest that there is an increase in audit quality along with an increase in audit-firm tenure. However, it also suggests that the results of this research do not support the mandatory audit-firm rotation required by the Indonesian government.

Independent Auditor's Report

Independent Auditor's Report