Do goodwill impairments affect audit opinions?Evidence from China

There has been a steady growth of goodwill impairments in the Chinese stock market since the adoption of the impairment approach in accounting.The influence of goodwill impairments on a firm’s financial position and profitability give reason to doubt its current and future performance.We examine whether auditors,as a crucial external monitor,identify the information risks of goodwill impairments and express their concerns about financial reporting quality in their audit opinions.Using a sample of firms listed on China’s Ashare market from 2007 to 2017,we test the association between goodwill impairments and the type of audit opinion received in the same financial period.Our findings are as follows.First,the probability of receiving a modified opinion increases with the amount of goodwill impairments.Second,the positive association between goodwill impairments and modified audit opinions is driven primarily by earnings management risks.Third,this positive association is more salient when auditors are industry experts and there is no auditor–client mismatch.Fourth,auditors are more sensitive to the amount of goodwill impairments than to their mere existence.Overall,we document that auditors perceive goodwill impairments as a signal of information risks and communicate their concerns to investors to avoid litigation.

Disclosure of Critical Audit Matters,Audit Risk and Audit Opinion

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.

Abnormal Audit Fees and Audit Opinion–Further Evidence from China's Capital Market

The existing literature on audit opinion shopping provides inconsistent evidence on whether such shopping has any association with abnormal audit fees. In this paper, we hypothesize that firms engage in audit opinion shopping and pay an abnormal audit fee only when their degree of accounting quality is low. To examine the issue, we group firms on the basis of their change in return on assets(ROA), and show that abnormal audit fees improve audit opinions only among firms that engage local auditors and have a low degree of ROA, but report a large increase in ROA, especially when the ROA change is the result of abnormal accruals. We find no association between abnormal audit fees and audit opinion improvement for other firms.

Do modified audit opinions have economic consequences? Empirical evidence based on financial constraints

We present a framework and empirical evidence to explain why,on average,11%of listed firms in China received modified audit opinions(MAOs)between 1992 and 2009.We argue that there are two reasons for this phenomenon:strong earnings management incentives lower firms'financial reporting quality and soft budget constraints weaken the information and governance roles of audit opinions.We find that firms'financial constraints eased after receiving MAOs,which suggests that MAOs have limited economic consequences.Further analysis shows that this phenomenon predominantly exists in government-controlled firms and firms that receive MAOs for the first time.We also find that MAOs have not influenced financial constraints after 2006.Finally,we find that MAOs did not affect borrowing cash flows from banks until 2005,suggesting that MAOs did not start affecting bank financing until that year.We also find that firms receive more related-party financing after receiving MAOs.Our results indicate that a limited effect on bank financing and increased related-party financing reduce the effect of MAOs on financial constraints.

企业诚信建设与注册会计师审计意见

在全社会强调传承诚信文化的背景下,已有文献研究了诚信建设带给企业的诸多后果,却鲜有研究从审计市场角度分析企业诚信的影响。本文基于诚信的三个基础因素“言”“行”和“言行不一致”,利用年报文本和监管处罚数据构建了企业诚信指标,分析了企业诚信对审计意见的影响与机制。研究发现,企业诚信降低了注册会计师出具非标意见的可能性,该现象在非国有企业中更加突出。企业诚信通过减少财务报告错报、抑制盈余操纵和加强内部控制的方式,最终影响了其对审计意见的判断。进一步地,当客户的应收账款和存货占比越高、客户越重要时,企业诚信更能减少非标审计意见出具。本研究有助于促进企业从审计市场角度理解诚信建设的重要性。

机构投资者调研与公司审计意见购买行为:刺激效应还是抑制效应?

公司管理层实施审计意见购买行为及其监管治理是审计学界与监管部门长期关注的重要问题。机构投资者调研作为投资者发掘公司内部信息并缓解信息不对称的一种非正式制度安排,会抑制还是刺激公司实施审计意见购买行为?本文基于我国上市公司的机构投资者调研数据,通过实证研究发现:机构投资者调研会刺激公司实施审计意见购买行为,参与调研机构数量越多、调研频数越高,被调研公司的审计意见购买动机越强,审计意见激进度也越高。进一步分析发现,在机构投资者调研的刺激效应下,公司主要通过选聘“中小”事务所实施审计意见购买,其目的是掩盖公司盈余管理及经营风险的“不利信号”。在缓解内生问题、排除替代性解释、考虑审计轮换制度影响等一系列稳健测试之后,上述结论依然成立。因此,建议会计师事务所应重视由机构投资者调研衍生的客户公司审计风险,市场监管部门应加强公司审计师选聘行为监管,提高机构投资者调研的外部治理效应。

非国有董事治理积极性与国有企业审计意见决策

如何发挥非国有董事治理积极性以提高国有企业审计意见质量,实现国有资产保值增值,是深化国有企业改革亟需研究的问题。以2013—2022年A股国有企业上市公司为样本,构建离散选择模型,以投非赞成票代理非国有董事治理积极性。研究发现,非国有董事治理积极性越高,越能够提示应计盈余管理风险,审计师越倾向出具非标准审计意见;第一大非国有股东持股比例越高,混改国有企业股权集中度越低,非国有董事治理积极性与审计意见谨慎性的关系越显著。经过稳健性检验,研究结论不变。进一步研究发现,非国有董事积极履行治理职能导致审计意见质量提高有利于混改国有企业资产保值增值,实现国有企业混改主要目标。研究结论对于国有企业审计师正确决策审计意见、非国有董事有效维权、政府监管部门和混改国有企业充分尊重非国有董事治理的积极性、实现国有企业改革目标,均具有启示意义。

审计意见质量与关键审计事项报告积极性

KAM作为审计报告新增要素,其报告内容与方式必须服从、服务于审计报告核心要素——审计意见的质量保证要求。选取2016年A+H股和2017—2021年沪深A股上市公司作为样本,研究审计意见质量保证要求对KAM报告的影响,发现审计意见质量低时,KAM披露的数量越多、篇幅越大、可读性越强、语调越消极,差异度越大,KAM报告积极性越高。事务所规模越大、客户风险越低,上述关系越显著。通过一系列稳健性检验,结论依然成立。进一步研究发现:审计意见质量对KAM报告积极性的影响,不仅有利于提高审计报告沟通价值,而且有利于降低被审计报表的财务重述,控制审计失败。研究结论对审计师有效编制、监管部门适当监管、投资者正确理解新审计报告,充分发挥其功能作用,具有重要的启示意义。

CFO变更与企业财务报告质量

在现代风险导向审计模式下,审计师会关注CFO变更这一信号以识别和评估财务报表重大错报风险,但鲜有文献探究财务报告质量是否因此而下降。以2010—2020年沪深两市A股上市公司为对象,研究CFO变更对企业财务报告质量的影响。研究表明,CFO变更提高了企业应计盈余管理的程度,增加了企业报告小额盈余、进行财务重述以及被出具非标审计意见的可能性,进而导致财务报告质量显著下降;当CFO未兼任内部董事、发生外部继任或非正常变更、任职于非央企时,上述负向作用更加明显。进一步研究表明,CFO变更通过提高企业的代理成本与信息不对称程度从而降低财务报告质量,并最终使企业面临更大的融资约束。

A“Going Concern”and the Need to Fully Integrate Economics in the Business School Curriculum

In response to the recommendation by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business(AACSB,2002),which urged business schools to embark on interdisciplinary programs to facilitate boundary-spanning teaching and learning,many colleges have conducted one form of curriculum integration or the other.Many of these team-taught course integrations,however,concentrate on core business courses without reaching out to related courses in other disciplines.Moreover,due to some factors,the informational contents of management disclosures in annual reports and audit unqualified opinions may not align with the future viability of an enterprise.Using a“going concern concept”,this paper demonstrates how the addition of economics in business school curriculum integration could produce well-rounded business graduates.Economics concepts could unambiguously support the tests that cast doubts on firms’ability to continue operations.

与客户共享审计能提升企业投资效率吗?

优化信息环境以提高企业投资效率是保障产业链供应链安全稳定的关键。基于共享审计视角,以2009—2021年A股上市公司为样本,检验与客户共享审计对企业投资效率的影响。研究表明,与客户共享审计能显著提升企业投资效率,优化企业信息环境和降低供求协调成本是其作用路径。横截面分析发现,共享审计对投资效率的积极影响在市场竞争激烈、客户集中度较高以及供应链关联度较弱时更显著。此外,获取续聘机会是共享审计师充当信息中介的动因,共享审计在提升企业投资效率的同时能促进客户价值提升。该结论丰富了共享审计赋能供应链治理的研究,也为供应商改善投资决策提供了有益参考。

审计师关心年报前瞻性文本信息吗?

此前研究主要关注历史信息与审计师决策,本文考察年报前瞻性文本信息对审计定价的影响。研究发现,年报前瞻性文本信息与审计定价显著负相关。机制检验发现,年报前瞻性文本信息能传递企业未来持续经营信号,降低审计师所感知的持续经营风险,进而降低审计定价。异质性检验发现,当年报披露语调更积极、披露未来经营计划内容更丰富时,二者负向关系更显著;且这种负向关系仅在企业未来盈余反应系数更高和分析师关注更多以及审计师行业专长较低和忙碌程度更高的样本中才显著。进一步研究发现,年报前瞻性文本信息披露能够显著降低企业被出具持续经营不确定性审计意见的概率。本文为理解审计师决策依据提供了新的理论参考,并为现有审计定价影响因素的研究作出增量贡献。

独立董事尽职程度与审计意见的关系研究

独立董事制度与外部审计制度都是为了提高上市公司信息披露质量,缓解治理问题,但近年来财务造假问题仍屡禁不止,两者是否真正发挥其效用,并且有何影响关系呢?本文选取2018-2022年A股上市公司为研究对象,从审计意见角度出发,运用logistic回归分析独立董事履职情况与审计意见的关系,研究发现独立董事参会情况与受教育程度与审计意见呈负相关,但独立董事意见与审计意见呈正相关。研究丰富了独立董事履职情况的研究,为完善上市公司监督体系提供实践启示。

非财报问询函对审计意见的影响研究

现有研究重点探讨了财报问询函与审计行为的关系,非财报问询函对审计行为的影响尚不得而知。以2015—2021年A股上市公司为研究对象,探寻非财报问询函对审计意见的影响。研究发现,上市公司收到的非财报问询函数量越多,被出具非标准审计意见的概率越高,非财报问询函更有利于形成客观的审计意见。机制检验结果表明,非财报问询函通过揭示企业经营风险,进而影响审计师的审计意见决策。异质性分析发现,在内部控制质量低、信息披露质量低以及没有超额配置审计师的样本中,非财报问询函对非标准审计意见的正向影响更显著。以问询函类型为切入点,深化了监管问询函与审计行为的相关研究,也为探索构建“监管部门-中介机构”协同监管机制提供了新的思路。

企业战略差异对审计意见的影响研究——来自中国A股上市公司的证据

以2010-2022年中国A股上市公司为研究样本,从融资约束的角度,实证检验企业战略差异对审计意见的影响。研究表明:企业战略差异越大,被出具非标准审计意见的概率越大;企业战略差异越大,融资约束程度越高;融资约束在企业战略差异与审计意见之间发挥中介作用,战略差异通过加剧融资约束,使得被发表非标准审计意见的可能性增加;企业战略差异与非标准审计意见的正相关关系在成长期企业、非国有企业中更为显著。在此基础上,从政府等监管部门、企业、审计师和投资者4个主体的角度提出了相应的对策建议。

The Relationship between Non-audit Services and Auditor Independence: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies

The rapid development of non-audit services(NAS)has jeopardized the independence of auditors,which has led many Western countries to enact regulations that restrict the provision of NAS.While in China,NAS have just emerged,and its development in China is far less mature than in Western countries.The purpose of this paper is to explore whether NAS in China have damaged auditor independence and whether Chinese regulators need to emulate Western countries and strongly limit the provision of NAS.In order to achieve this objective,213 Chinese listed companies are selected in this study.The audit opinions issued by the auditors are used as substitute variables for auditor independence(dependent variables),and the ratio of non-audit service fees to the total of audit service fees and non-audit service fees as a substitute variable for the provision of NAS(independent variable),and meanwhile some suitable control variables are also selected.Analyse these data by building a binary logistic regression model.The results show that there is no evidence in China that NAS can undermine auditor independence and there is no need for China to enact regulations to prohibit the provision of NAS.