Auditors＇ Role, Responsibilities, Duties, and AIS to Prevent Errors and Frauds：An Evidence From Lebanon

The paper is about how Lebanese auditors detect fraud in the course of their work and what they advise companies to implement in order to avoid fraudulent acts. For this purpose, various interviews were carded out from different experienced and well-reputed external auditors. This was also for their wide knowledge of all kinds of frauds. Data were taken from primary as well as secondary resources. The paper presents the theoretical and practical aspects. The theoretical part contains the accounting scandals, frauds, auditing processes, and auditor＇s responsibilities and tools for auditors to detect fraud. The practical part consists of case study analysis and detailed research processes.

Quality in Independent Auditing:A Research on Auditors

The aim of this study is to determine the opinion related to the audit quality of independent auditors in Turkey.For this purpose,a study was carried out on the auditors operating in the TRC 1 region and having an auditor certificate.Questionnaire method was used in the research.In the evaluation of the data,frequency,mean,and standard deviation were used as descriptive statistical methods.In addition,t-test and one-way ANOVA test were used to compare the data between independent groups.Research results show no significant difference between the opinions of the independent auditors according to various variables.

Do investors care about auditor assignments?Evidence from last-minute changes to signing auditors

Against the background of China’s strengthening of finance and accounting supervision,this study examines the practice among listed companies of changing signing auditors at the last minute and explores whether Chinese investors can capture this information in a timely manner.We find that China’s capital market responds significantly negatively to these last-minute changes,implying that investors perceive a potential negative impact of this behavior.Crosssectional analyses suggest that the characteristics of the change event,recent corporate events,and accounting firm capability significantly affect the stock price response.Furthermore,in terms of the individual characteristics of signing auditors,external investors appear to comprehensively consider busyness level,industry experience,and the timing of the change to determine the causes and effects of the auditor change and make different market reactions accordingly.In addition,consistent with investor perceptions,we find that last-minute changes significantly impair the quality of financial statements,indicating that external investors’judgments based on information about changes in signing auditors are rational and effective.

Trusted Certified Auditor Using Cryptography for Secure Data Outsourcing and Privacy Preservation in Fog-Enabled VANETs

With the recent technological developments,massive vehicular ad hoc networks(VANETs)have been established,enabling numerous vehicles and their respective Road Side Unit(RSU)components to communicate with oneanother.The best way to enhance traffic flow for vehicles and traffic management departments is to share thedata they receive.There needs to be more protection for the VANET systems.An effective and safe methodof outsourcing is suggested,which reduces computation costs by achieving data security using a homomorphicmapping based on the conjugate operation of matrices.This research proposes a VANET-based data outsourcingsystem to fix the issues.To keep data outsourcing secure,the suggested model takes cryptography models intoaccount.Fog will keep the generated keys for the purpose of vehicle authentication.For controlling and overseeingthe outsourced data while preserving privacy,the suggested approach considers the Trusted Certified Auditor(TCA).Using the secret key,TCA can identify the genuine identity of VANETs when harmful messages aredetected.The proposed model develops a TCA-based unique static vehicle labeling system using cryptography(TCA-USVLC)for secure data outsourcing and privacy preservation in VANETs.The proposed model calculatesthe trust of vehicles in 16 ms for an average of 180 vehicles and achieves 98.6%accuracy for data encryption toprovide security.The proposedmodel achieved 98.5%accuracy in data outsourcing and 98.6%accuracy in privacypreservation in fog-enabled VANETs.Elliptical curve cryptography models can be applied in the future for betterencryption and decryption rates with lightweight cryptography operations.

The effect of shared auditors in the supply chain on cost stickiness

Do supply chain audits have real effects?We focus on the effect of shared auditors in the supply chain on corporate cost stickiness.When a supplier shares auditors with its customers,the shared auditors provide informational advantages for suppliers’managers,thus revising their optimistic or pessimistic expectations and influencing suppliers’cost stickiness.Using a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2017,we explore the relationship between shared auditors and suppliers’cost stickiness conditional on management expectations.The results show that shared auditors in the supply chain reduce suppliers’cost stickiness significantly when suppliers’managers hold optimistic expectations,and increase suppliers’cost stickiness in cases of pessimistic expectations.Furthermore,the greater the number of shared auditors,the stronger the effect.Such effects are more pronounced when supplier firms share auditors with important customers,have higher demand uncertainty,and use big 10 auditors.

How does auditors' work stress affect audit quality?Empirical evidence from the Chinese stock market

With reference to the Job Demands-Control Model,we empirically examine the effect of auditors' work stress on audit quality using a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies and their signature auditors from 2009 to 2013.The results show that(1) there is generally no pervasive deterioration in audit quality resulting from auditors' work stress;(2) there is a significant negative association between work stress and audit quality in the initial audits of new clients;and(3) the perception of work stress depends on auditors' individual characteristics.Auditors from international audit firms and those in the role of partner respond more strongly to work stress than industry experts.Auditors tend to react more intensively when dealing with state-owned companies.We suggest that audit firms attach more importance to auditors' work stress and rationalize their allocation of audit resources to ensure high audit quality.

Voluntary Disclosure of Auditors＇ Report on Internal Control： Firm Characteristics and Economic Consequences

Using propensity score matching （PSM） and the difference-in- difference （DID） approach, this paper explores the characteristics of listed Chinese firms that voluntarily disclose auditors＇ reports on internal control and the economic consequences. Using a sample of non-financial firms listed on the main boards of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange between 2006 and 2010, we find that firms are more likely to voluntarily disclose their auditors＇ reports on internal control if they have higher state ownership, lower managerial ownership, sanction records, audit committees, non-Big Four auditors as their auditors of annual financial reports, unqualified auditors＇ opinions on financial reports, less board independence, after controlling for firm size, liabilities, performance, and history. Moreover, as compared to a control group that exhibits similar characteristics, firms that voluntarily disclose auditors＇ reports on internal control are associated with positive earnings quality and negative cost of equity capital.

Is the quality of female auditors really better? Evidence based on the Chinese A-share market

Unlike previous studies in which a single index was used to measure audit quality, this study establishes a new comprehensive index to measure audit quality via Discretionary Accrual, as estimated by Jones' basic model(1991) and Audit Opinions. The former is used to measure the quality of financial statements, and the latter is used to measure the auditors' independence in the mainstream international literature. We examine whether and how an auditor's gender affects the quality of his or her audits under the framework of empathy theory and gender role socialization theory. Using a large sample of 9861 auditor-firm-year observations from Chinese A-share–listed companies from 2011 to 2015, we find that the audit quality of signed auditors shows significant gender differences: these significant gender differences differ from the findings of previous studies that female auditors could provide a higherquality audit than male auditors; that is, in our study the audit quality of the male auditors exceeds that of the female auditors. After distinguishing the positive and negative directions of the Discretionary Accrual, we find no significant gender differences in audit quality between male and female auditors when the earnings had been adjusted upward by the client; that is, female and male auditors had the same audit risk perception. However, when the client adjusted earnings downward, which indicates a lower audit risk for theauditor, the audit quality of female auditors was significantly lower than that of the male auditors. After controlling for the age and position of the auditors,we also find that the gender differences in the auditors' audit quality decreased significantly or even disappeared when the auditor's age exceeded 45 years and/or their position was manager or above. These results are consistent with the empathy theory and gender role socialization theory.

Are state ownership and auditors' locality determinants of asset write-downs? Evidence from China

After issuing the 1998 Accounting Standards, Chinese regulators implemented additional regulations in 2001 governing write-downs of impaired assets and required assessment of recoverable amounts for four additional asset categories. As the recoverable value cannot be obtained objectively, management can discretionally assess the magnitude of write-downs to affect bottom-line profit. This study used 7258 firm-year observations in China from 1998 to2005 to examine whether the percentage of asset write-downs by statecontrolled firms differs from non-state-controlled firms, conditional upon more conservative financial reporting rules, and investigate whether local auditors support managerial decisions on asset write-downs. The empirical findings support the tendency of state-controlled ownerships to have lower asset write-downs. Local auditors also support managerial decisions on asset write-downs, especially when the companies are controlled by local governments.

Towards Developing Privacy-Preserved Data Security Approach(PP-DSA)in Cloud Computing Environment

In the present scenario of rapid growth in cloud computing models,several companies and users started to share their data on cloud servers.However,when the model is not completely trusted,the data owners face several security-related problems,such as user privacy breaches,data disclosure,data corruption,and so on,during the process of data outsourcing.For addressing and handling the security-related issues on Cloud,several models were proposed.With that concern,this paper develops a Privacy-Preserved Data Security Approach(PP-DSA)to provide the data security and data integrity for the out-sourcing data in Cloud Environment.Privacy preservation is ensured in this work with the Efficient Authentication Technique(EAT)using the Group Signature method that is applied with Third-Party Auditor(TPA).The role of the auditor is to secure the data and guarantee shared data integrity.Additionally,the Cloud Service Provider(CSP)and Data User(DU)can also be the attackers that are to be handled with the EAT.Here,the major objective of the work is to enhance cloud security and thereby,increase Quality of Service(QoS).The results are evaluated based on the model effectiveness,security,and reliability and show that the proposed model provides better results than existing works.

Toward the Effect of Audit Quality on Earnings Management——Empirical Evidence from Manufacturing Enterprises Listed in Shanghai Stock Market

Nowadays, earnings management is a hot issue, but most of the researches focus on the incentives of earnings management and few of them refer to the effect of audit quality on earnings management. In this study, we directly examine the effect of external audit quality on earnings management by using discretionary accruals. We find that the discretionary accruals of non-dual audit companies are significantly greater than those of dual audit companies. We also find that clients of non-First Ten auditors intend to report greater discretionary accruals than those of First Ten auditors.

对审计意见和信用评级相互关系的实证分析

研究四大审计公司的持续经营意见与两大评级机构信用负面评级间的关系;重点分析濒临破产公司的审计意见、信用评级及两者间的关系,深入探讨了信用评级结果是否会影响审计公司出具持续经营意见,以及持续经营意见是否会影响信用评级结果;选取2002年1月1日至2013年12月31日间的破产公司为样本,这些公司均具有破产前12个月的审计意见、标普或穆迪出具的信用评级报告。研究发现:审计公司的持续经营意见对信用评级报告会产生影响;同时,当破产公司收到审计持续经营意见时,标普有68%的概率会降低该公司的评级,穆迪有24%的概率会降低评级。本研究有助于理解审计公司与信用评级机构更深层次的关系,以及二者未来的服务。

Power Auditor数据库审计系统在宁夏电力的应用

随着信息化建设的快速发展,数据库作为信息系统的核心和基础发挥着越来越重要的作用,数据库安全对信息系统的影响越来越大,数据的防篡改及防盗窃问题越来越引起人们的关注。文章根据电力信息化系统数据库审计的特点及实现方式,深入研究基于Power Auditor技术的数据库审计系统,介绍了Power Auditor数据库审计技术在宁夏电力信息系统中的应用,通过应用表明该技术能够有效地与电力信息化系统紧密融合,确保各业务系统数据库的安全可靠;最后,总结了宁夏电力信息系统数据库审计的运维特点。

Effect of personality on fraud detection： The Malaysian case

Auditing standards require external auditors to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatements, either due to fraud or error. Inability of the external auditors to detect the material misstatements, particularly fraud, may expose them to litigation. The present study aims to examine the effect of personality factors （i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience and agreeableness） on the external auditors＇ ability to detect the likelihood of fraud. An experimental approach is adopted by sending case materials to audit partners and audit managers attached to auditing firms operating in Malaysia. The result shows that personality does not have a positive effect on the external auditors＇ ability to detect the likelihood of fraud.

Internal Whistle-Blowing Intentions： A Study of Demographic and Individual Factors

Internal auditors hold a unique position in their organizations to prevent, deter, and detect corporate wrongdoings. However, the role of this profession in investigating their ethical decision-making behaviors towards internal whistle-blowing intentions has been very often neglected. Furthermore, although extensive researches have been undertaken on the issue of whistle blowing globally, empirical studies on this area are still scarce in Malaysia. This paper examines internal whistle-blowing intentions among internal auditors in Malaysia by utilizing three independent vignettes. A mail survey was conducted to investigate demographic and individual factors that could influence internal auditors＇ ethical decision-making processes. The likelihood for internal whistle-blowing intentions was significant among internal auditors＇ ethical judgments for all the three vignettes. Demographic factors （gender, age, and tenure） and other individual factors （locus of control and organizational commitment） failed to explain the likelihood of internal auditors＇ internal whistle-blowing intentions. Findings should aid researchers in their understandings of the determinants of individuals＇ internal whistle-blowing behaviors.

Strengening Management of Human Resources in Certification Body

Human resources are at the core ofany certification body.To establish the public credibilityof its work,a certification body must constructa professional and high quality personnel team thatcan meet the demands of various certificationtasks.The China Quality Mark Certification Group(CQM Group) attaches great importance to the constructionof human resources.Taking the training offirst-rate personnel as the primary objective of itsstrategic development,the Group has formulatedand gradually implemented the human resource developmentstrategy.It has also adapted and improvedthe professional structure of its certificationpersonnel in a timely manner,planned and organizedcontinuous education for these personnel andstrengthened monitoring of the use process of certificationpersonnel.This has been done to improvethe core competitiveness of the CQM Group and torealize the strategic objective of becoming an "internationalname brand certification body with first-ratepersonnel,first-rate management,first-rate qualityand first-rate services".

Authorized Identity-Based Public Cloud Storage Auditing Scheme with Hierarchical Structure for Large-Scale User Groups

Identity-based public cloud storage auditing schemes can check the integrity of cloud data, and reduce the complicated certificate management. In such a scheme, one Private Key Generator(PKG) is employed to authenticate the identity and generate private keys for all users, and one Third Party Auditor(TPA) is employed to by users to check the integrity of cloud data. This approach is undesirable for large-scale users since the PKG and the TPA might not be able to afford the heavy workload. To solve the problem, we give a hierarchical Private Key Generator structure for large-scale user groups, in which a root PKG delegates lower-level PKGs to generate private keys and authenticate identities. Based on the proposed structure, we propose an authorized identity-based public cloud storage auditing scheme, in which the lowest-level PKGs play the role of TPA, and only the authorized lowest-level PKGs can represent users in their domains to check cloud data's integrity. Furthermore, we give the formal security analysis and experimental results, which show that our proposed scheme is secure and efficient.

Auditor Reputation, Audit Opinion, and Eamings Management： Evidence From French Banking Industry

The aim of this research is to study the impact of auditor reputation and audit opinion on earnings management in French banks. This article used a sample of 162 French banks over the period from 2005 to 2012. By using three different tests （loss-avoidance, just-meeting-or-beating prior year＇s earnings, and abnormal loan loss provision）, the findings of this paper show that both high auditor reputation and qualified audit opinion constrain earnings management to avoid loss or to just meet or beat prior year＇s earnings in banks. In separate tests related to earnings management through abnormal loan loss provisions, the paper also finds that high auditor reputation constrains earnings management. Qualified audit opinion has a negative but non-significant effect on abnormal loan loss provisions.

Cloud Data Encryption and Authentication Based on Enhanced Merkle Hash Tree Method

Many organizations apply cloud computing to store and effectively process data for various applications.The user uploads the data in the cloud has less security due to the unreliable verification process of data integrity.In this research,an enhanced Merkle hash tree method of effective authentication model is proposed in the multi-owner cloud to increase the security of the cloud data.Merkle Hash tree applies the leaf nodes with a hash tag and the non-leaf node contains the table of hash information of child to encrypt the large data.Merkle Hash tree provides the efficient mapping of data and easily identifies the changesmade in the data due to proper structure.The developed model supports privacy-preserving public auditing to provide a secure cloud storage system.The data owners upload the data in the cloud and edit the data using the private key.An enhanced Merkle hash tree method stores the data in the cloud server and splits it into batches.The data files requested by the data owner are audit by a third-party auditor and the multiowner authentication method is applied during the modification process to authenticate the user.The result shows that the proposed method reduces the encryption and decryption time for cloud data storage by 2–167 ms when compared to the existing Advanced Encryption Standard and Blowfish.

Auditor Switching and Investors＇ Reliance on Earnings： Evidence From Bursa Malaysia

This study provides some insights of investors＇ view on auditor independence focusing on auditor switching. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of appointing a new auditor on investors＇ reliability on reported earnings in financial accounts. Analyses are based on a matched-pair sample of 162 listed companies in the Bursa Malaysia for the year 2011. The results of the ordinary least squares （OLS） regression show that earnings response coefficients for auditor switching companies are significantly higher than for non-auditor switching companies. The results provide support for the contention that investors place greater reliability on the financial accounts audited by newly appointed auditors. This finding is consistent with the Malaysian audit market where long audit tenure is a common practice and auditor switching is considered rare. Findings provide support for the long discussed issue of the importance of auditor rotation in maintaining auditor independence.