Internal Control Weaknesses Research Articles

Does confucianism influence corporate earnings management?

This paper investigates the effect of Confucianism on corporate earnings management. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2007 to 2017, we find that corporate earnings management is negatively associated with the popularity of Confucianism. Our findings also reveal that the effect of Confucianism is particularly strong among firms characterized with weaker internal control and external supervision or located in areas with lower level of marketization. Our findings shed important light on how culture improves the quality of financial reporting in emerging markets.

Internal Control Quality: The Role of Critical Audit Matters Reporting

We examine whether the 2019 introduction of critical audit matter (CAM) reporting in audit reports in the United States is associated with improvements in issuers’ internal controls over financial reporting. We propose that increased scrutiny by auditors on CAM-related matters may lead to early identification and client remediation of material weaknesses in internal control (ICMW). Analyses show that compared to control companies, treatment companies (those with CAM reporting) experience a statistically significant decrease in both the likelihood of having an ICMW and the number of ICMWs after the CAM is reported. This result is driven primarily by account-level ICMWs rather than entity-level ICMWs. We also find that issuers with revenue-recognition CAMs have significantly fewer revenue-related ICMWs compared to other issuers, consistent with the notion that ICMWs related to revenue recognition are identified and remediated through the auditor’s CAM evaluation process. Results show that the positive association between CAM disclosure and internal control quality—that is, the negative association between CAMs and ICMWs—is more pronounced when more auditor effort is involved in CAM reporting. We conclude that by focusing auditor attention on areas of potential concern, CAM reporting leads to improvements in the quality of internal control over financial reporting.

Do tax experts play a monitoring role in audit engagements?

Using proprietary data, this study is among the first to provide evidence on the monitoring role of auditors’ in-house tax experts. This role is important due to the relatively high frequency and proportion of tax expert hours in audits, and the salience of tax-related accruals in financial reporting. We show that tax expert effort is associated with client complexity and auditor characteristics. Next, we demonstrate that tax expert effort is associated with the incidence of tax-related internal control weaknesses, but it is not enough to fully mitigate the risk of material misstatements. We also find that tax expert effort is costly, resulting in higher audit fees and lower realization rates. Finally, tax expert effort is associated with conservative tax accruals but not with aggressive tax planning. Overall, although tax expert effort is associated with audit quality and financial reporting quality, it is not a seamless solution to audit tax-related accruals.

Can Financial Analysts’ Questions Help Auditors Infer Internal Control Weaknesses?

Can Financial Analysts’ Questions Help Auditors Infer Internal Control Weaknesses?

Covenant-lite Deals and Financial Reporting Quality

We examine how covlite deals, which are debt contracts that lack systematic covenant compliance requirements, affect financial reporting quality. Examining publicly traded U.S. issuers, we show that firms significantly reduce conservative financial reporting but increase the quality of voluntary non-GAAP earnings information in the post-issue-period. Moreover, covlite issuers tend to reduce accruals-based management incentives, are less likely to receive SEC’s key issue comment letters and are no more likely to have internal control weakness flagged by their auditors in the post-issue-period. We argue that covenant/monitoring quality erosion, often associated with covlite deal structures, does not necessarily result in subordinate financial reporting quality. Instead, we conjecture that firms alter their reporting incentives due to major shifts in their debt market investor profile from traditional banking institutions towards non-bank institutional investors with different financial reporting needs. Our results are robust to alternative data construct and modelling settings that address variable omission and self-selection problems.

Exploring the application of analytical procedures by Jordanian external auditors

This study aims to explore the application of analytical procedures (AP) as a major external auditing procedure in the developing country context of Jordan, a context characterised by the prevalence of closely held businesses, and limited demand for an external audit of high quality (Abdullatif, 2016; Almarayeh, Aibar-Guzman, & Abdullatif, 2020). To do so, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve experienced Jordanian external auditors. The main issues covered are the detailed use of AP as an audit procedure and the most significant issues that may limit the effectiveness and reliability of this procedure in the Jordanian context. The main findings of the study include that AP are generally used and favoured by Jordanian auditors, despite their recognition of several problems facing the application of AP, and potentially limiting its reliability and effectiveness. These problems include weak internal controls of some clients, low quality of data provided by some clients, a lack of availability of specialised audit software for many auditors, and a lack of local Jordanian industry benchmarks that can be used to develop expectations necessary for the proper application of AP. The study recommends the establishment of such industry benchmarks, along with better monitoring by the regulatory authorities of the quality of company data, and increasing the efforts of these authorities on promoting the auditors’ use of specialised audit software in performing AP

Does financial reporting quality vary across firm life cycle?

AbstractThis study provides empirical evidence that across firm life cycle there is considerable variation in financial reporting quality. Specifically, the focus is on matching quality captured by the contemporaneous correlation between revenues and expenses and on the likelihood of material misstatements in financial statements. On balance, we observe an inverted U‐shaped pattern of financial reporting quality, that is, lower quality during the introduction, growth, and decline stages, compared to the mature stage of firm life cycle. First, we find poor matching of expenses with revenues in the introduction, growth, and decline stages. This implies conservative or aggressive recognition of expenses, leading to less informative earnings, and hence lower financial reporting quality. Then, we examine the likelihood of material misstatements, measured by weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting, financial statement restatements, Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) accounting and auditing enforcement releases (AAER), and financial statement divergence (FSD) scores. We find clear indications that firms in the introduction, growth, and decline stages are significantly more likely to have misstatements in their financial statements compared to firms in the mature stage. Overall, the findings of this study enhance our understanding of the role of life‐cycle stages in causing variation in financial reporting quality.

Analisis Determinan Kelemahan Pengendalian Intern Pemerintah Daerah Kabupaten/Kota Provinsi Jawa Timur

This study aims to determine the effect of local government size, local revenue (PAD), capital expenditure, and population on weaknesses in internal control in local governments. This research was carried out using multiple linear regression analysis on 104 samples of district / city governments in the province of East Java during 2016-2018, the results showed that there was no significant effect related to local government size, capital expenditure, and population on weakness in control. intern in local government. The size of the local government, the capital expenditure, and the population do not ensure that the internal control weaknesses owned by the regional government are small or large. Meanwhile, PAD has a significant positive effect on the weakness of internal control in local government. The amount of PAD has the potential to encourage managers to commit irregularities in regional financial management, thereby increasing the findings of weaknesses in local government internal control.
 Keywords: size of local government; PAD; capital expenditure; population; weaknesses of internal control.

Cyber-Security Incidents and Audit Quality

ABSTRACT As signals of internal control weaknesses, cyber security incidents can represent significant risk factors to the quality of financial reporting. We empirically assess the audit quality implications of data breaches for a large sample of US firms. Using a difference-in-difference approach based on a matched sample of breached and non-breached firms, we find no evidence that cyber-security incidents result in a decline in audit quality. Instead, we observe positive shifts in four widely-used proxies for audit quality. We document that breached firms (i) experience a decrease in abnormal accruals, (ii) are less likely to report small profits or small earnings increases, (iii) are more likely to be issued a going concern report, and (iv) are less likely to restate their financial statements in the two years following a breach. Our results indicate that auditors effectively offset increases in audit risk through additional substantive testing and audit effort. Our evidence supports the view that auditors have increased their audit risk awareness and put in place adequate procedures to deal with the consequences of cyber-security incidents.

Internal Control Quality and Bank Risk-Taking and Performance

SUMMARYUsing a sample of bank-years from 2005 to 2017, we examine the effect of internal control quality on future risk-taking and performance. We find that banks that disclose a material weakness in internal controls have higher risk-taking and worse performance in the future, including having a higher (lower) likelihood of experiencing large losses (gains). These findings suggest that weak controls increase (reduce) downside (upside) risk-taking or conversely that strong controls increase (reduce) upside (downside) risk-taking. Path analyses suggest that 22.3 to 43.7 percent of the effect of internal control quality on future performance is through risk-taking. Additionally, material weaknesses are negatively associated with total asset, loan, interest income, and non-interest income growth, suggesting that internal control quality affects both core and non-core activities of banks. Overall, results suggest that strong internal controls improve bank risk-taking, in part through asymmetrically reducing downside risk-taking while facilitating upside risk-taking, ultimately improving bank performance.JEL Classification: G01; G21; G28; M41; M48.

How understandable are SOX 404 auditors reports?

This study experimentally examines potential non-professional investors’ understanding of a random sample of SOX 404 reports containing both IT weaknesses (ITWs) and non-IT weaknesses (non-ITWs) as reflected in their internal control weakness (ICW) severity ratings and their accuracy in identifying the reported ICWs. We find that the number of perceived non-ITWs and report length are positively associated with potential investors’ ICW severity ratings and that failing to perceive non-ITWs reduces potential investors’ ratings of weakness severity. However, the number of perceived ITWs is not associated with potential non-professional investors’ ratings of the overall severity of ICWs. Potential investors’ errors in identifying both non-ITWs and ITWs are associated with the number of non-ITWs and ITWs reported. Also, errors are positively associated with lower readability of SOX 404 reports. We identify specific types of ITWs and non-ITWs that contribute the most to the total number of errors made by non-professional investors in perceiving ICWs.

Optimal internal control regulation: Standards, penalties, and leniency in enforcement

To protect investors, regulators increasingly rely on regulating firms’ internal controls over financial reporting, but they punish noncompliance only if an internal control weakness enabled accounting manipulation. In other words, enforcement is manipulation-contingent. We develop an economic model with a manager who sequentially chooses internal control quality and manipulative effort, and a welfare-maximizing regulator who determines an internal control standard, the penalty size for internal control weaknesses, and when to invoke such a penalty. Internal control regulation under manipulation-contingent enforcement not only provides incentives to invest in internal controls, but also improves manipulation deterrence when there are internal control weaknesses. The optimal regulation takes advantage of this additional deterrence effect by using a very strict internal control standard and an intermediate penalty that is only levied in the event of accounting manipulation. Overall, we rationalize why the commitment to lenient enforcement of internal control regulation is optimal.

Predicting the Insolvency of SMEs Using Technological Feasibility Assessment Information and Data Mining Techniques

The government makes great efforts to maintain the soundness of policy funds raised by the national budget and lent to corporate. In general, previous research on the prediction of company insolvency has dealt with large and listed companies using financial information with conventional statistical techniques. However, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do not have to undergo mandatory external audits, and the quality of accounting information is low due to weak internal control. To overcome this problem, we developed an insolvency prediction model for SMEs using data mining techniques and technological feasibility assessment information as non-financial information. We divided the dataset into two types of data based on three years of corporate age. The synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) was used to solve the data imbalance that occurred at this time. Six insolvency prediction models were created using logistic regression, a decision tree, an artificial neural network, and an ensemble (i.e., boosting) of each algorithm. By applying a boosted decision tree, the best accuracies of 69.1% and 82.7% were derived, and by applying a decision tree, nine and seven influential factors affected the insolvency of SMEs established for fewer than three years and more than three years, respectively. In addition, we derived several insolvency rules for the two types of SMEs from the decision tree-based prediction model and proposed ways to enhance the health of loans given to potentially insolvent companies using these derived rules. The results of this study show that it is possible to predict SMEs’ insolvency using data mining techniques with technological feasibility assessment information and find meaningful rules related to insolvency.

Internal Control Personnel’s Experience, Internal Control Weaknesses, and ESG Rating

Effective internal control is expected to have a positive effect on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings, which are an indicator of corporate sustainability, as it ensures improvements in efficiency and effectiveness in operations, reliable reports, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. However, no matter how well an internal control system is designed, internal control quality deteriorates if internal control (IC) personnel do not understand the firm’s business or lack accounting experience. This study first explores the relationship between ESG ratings and internal control weaknesses (ICWs). We then examine two types of career experience of IC personnel—length of service and accounting experience—and their effect on ICWs. We conduct logit regression analyses using the data of 1876 non-financial listed firms in Korea. The results show that ICW firms have low ESG ratings. We also find that the accounting experience of IC personnel is more closely related to ICWs than the length of service. This implies that the accounting expertise of IC personnel may have a greater effect on internal control quality than the understanding of a firm’s business. Overall, our findings provide evidence that firms must have IC personnel with sufficient accounting expertise for sustainable management.

Auditors' Fee Premiums and Low‐Quality Internal Controls*

ABSTRACTWe examine the relation between low‐quality internal controls and audit fee premiums. Using a novel data set of audit hours and audit fees we find, consistent with the audit risk model, that auditors increase their effort (hours) owing to low internal control quality. We find that auditors also charge a significant fee premium to clients with internal control weaknesses. This premium is observed for severe internal control weaknesses and companies with low‐quality alternative governance mechanisms. The results are robust to multiple methods to address endogeneity, including company fixed effects, difference‐in‐differences design, and a propensity score‐matched sample. Taken as a whole, low internal control quality leads to fee premiums, which are a deadweight loss to client companies.

Executive Accountants and the Reliability of Financial Reporting

Using hand-collected data from mandatory disclosures of executive officers, we examine financial reporting outcomes associated with delegating significant accounting responsibilities to an executive accountant, not concurrently serving as the chief financial officer or chief executive officer. We find executive accountants are associated with a significant reduction in the likelihood of restatement. Moreover, we find evidence of a positive association between executive accountants and accrual quality and faster remediation of material weaknesses in internal control when an executive accountant is present. Taken together, this evidence is consistent with more reliable financial reporting at firms with an executive accountant. In contrast, accountants identified in commonly used datasets (i.e., Execucomp or BoardEx) are not consistently associated with the reliability of financial reporting. We highlight the significant differences between datasets, largely attributable to the objectives and sources of the underlying data. We conclude that Execucomp and BoardEx are not substitute datasets for the executive officers disclosed in firms’ 10-K and proxy statement filings. Furthermore, we caution future research to consider which data are most appropriate in the context of each research question. This paper was accepted by Shiva Rajgopal, accounting.

Does the Format of Internal Control Disclosures Matter? An Experimental Investigation of Nonprofessional Investor Behavior

SUMMARY We investigate whether the format of internal control weakness (ICW) disclosures required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 influences perceptions of nonprofessional investors. Using a 2 × 2 between-participants experiment, we examine two facets of ICW disclosure formats: ICW presentation salience (high versus low) and ICW disaggregation type (disaggregated versus aggregated). We hypothesize and find evidence of an interactive effect between presentation salience and disaggregation type, such that investors perceive ICWs as less negative when they are saliently disclosed and this effect is enhanced when the material weakness is disaggregated into its individual control deficiencies. We also find evidence of moderated mediation such that high salience of ICW disclosures has a positive indirect effect on investing judgments through management trust, but only when the ICW is disaggregated into its individual control deficiencies.

Classifying the Contents of Cybersecurity Risk Disclosure through Textual Analysis and Factor Analysis

ABSTRACTCybersecurity has garnered much attention due to the increasing frequency and cost of cybersecurity incidents and has become a significant concern for organizations and governments. Regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have also shown an interest in cybersecurity and the quality of cybersecurity risk disclosures. This paper examines the informativeness of cybersecurity risk disclosures when cybersecurity incidents or related internal control weaknesses are reported. In particular, we propose a quantitative methodology, which is a combination of textual analysis and factor analysis, for classifying cybersecurity risk disclosures into nine factors. Our results show different disclosing patterns among firms depending on whether they had cybersecurity incidents and internal control weaknesses. Further, our analysis indicates that firms disclose control-related factors to mediate the negative effect of disclosing vulnerability-related factors. This study provides various stakeholders, including investors, regulators, and researchers, with insight into the informativeness of cybersecurity risk disclosures.

ANALISIS HUBUNGAN TINGKAT KAPABILITAS APARAT PENGAWASAN INSTANSI PEMERINTAH (APIP) DENGAN KUALITAS PENGELOLAAN KEUANGAN HALAMAN JUDUL

Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the level of government internal supervisory apparatus (APIP) capability and the quality of financial management. The researcher measured the quality of financial management of 42 local governments from various levels of APIP capability which are the research samples. The indicators used are the opinion of Supreme Audit Institution (BPK), the number of internal control weakness findings, the number of non-compliance findings, and the financial impact of non-compliance findings sourced from the financial audit report (LHP) of BPK on the local government financial statements (LKPD) for the fiscal year 2016. The result of the measurement was then compared and analyzed to determine the relationship between the level of APIP capability and the quality of financial management. Based on the analysis that had been done, it can be concluded that there is no significant relationship between the level of APIP capability and the quality of financial management. In addition, this study also identified factors that can explain why there is or there is no significant relationship between the level of APIP capability and the quality of financial management by conducting in-depth interviews with participants from the Sleman Regency Government, which is one of the research samples. Based on the analysis of interview transcripts and documents, it can be concluded that the absence of a significant relationship between the level of APIP capability and quality of financial management could be caused by the more dominant role of local government agencies (SKPD) in achieving the quality of financial management, the improvement of the level of APIP capability which is not followed by the significant improvement on the role and services of APIP, and the potential weakness during the process of assessment of the APIP capability.

ANALISIS TEMUAN BERULANG PADA PEMERIKSAAN BANTUAN KEUANGAN DEWAN PIMPINAN DAERAH PARTAI POLITIK PROVINSI DAERAH ISTIMEWA YOGYAKARTA

ABSTRACT This research was to analyze the causes of the repeated findings and their preventive solutions in the audit of the public funding of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) of the political parties in the Province of Yogyakarta Special Region. It was a qualitative research with a case study design conducted in four DPDs receiving the largest public funding from 2011 to 2016. Data were collected through document analyses and interviews. Twelve participants interviewed were the representatives of three parties, namely compilers, examiners, and users of the public funding audit system.This research also applied the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) internal control framework and the State Financial Audit Standards (SPKN) of 2017 for the analysis. The analysis showed three causes of repeated findings in the audit; they were weak internal control of political parties, weak audit, and non optimal role of the National Unity and Political Body. Preventive solutions to be made are for improving internal control, improving regulations, and optimizing coordination among parties. The results indicate that improvements should not be done only within the internal political parties but also around the external factors.