会计师事务所合并与审计师变更——基于12起合并案的经验证据

CPA Firm Merger and Auditor Change——Empirical Evidence from 12 Cases in China

基于我国2005～2009年发生的12起事务所合并案,考察了相关因素对上市公司在原主审事务所发生合并后是续聘合并后事务所还是变更到其他低质量事务所决策的影响。研究结果表明,经营业绩佳、公司治理好的公司更倾向于续聘合并后的事务所,而上期被出具非标审计意见的公司更倾向于变更事务所;与预期相反的是,具有融资动机的公司更倾向于变更事务所;无论是以非经常性损益还是以操控性应计度量潜在的盈余管理机会,其与公司选择续聘合并后事务所或变更其他事务所之间均无显著关系。

Using the data of listed companies whose auditors mergered between 2005 and 2009,this paper explores the factors which influence the clients＇ auditor-switch decisions when audit firms merge with other firms.Logistic regression shows that the firms with high ROA intend to retain the CPA firms after merger.Companies which received unclean opinion last year are more likely to change CPA firms this year.In addition,the paper also finds companies with good corporate governance incline to retain the mergered CPA firms.Inconsistent with the prediction,companies with financing need seem to be more likely to switch to other low-quality accounting firms.The authors find that there is no significant relationship between auditor change and potential income manipulation（measured by extraordinary items or discretionary accruals）.