加强管理 严格审核 努力提高审计统计质量

近几年来,在审计署和厅领导的重视支持下,广东各级审计机关注重抓好审计统计的基础建设和制度建设,促进审计统计工作向系统化、规范化、制度化方向发展。统计报表质量进一步提高,审计统计能及时、如实地反映审计成果和审计机关的工作情况,为各级领导了解和掌握有关情况、指导审计工作发挥积极作用。

Perceptions on the Effects of Auditor-Client Relationship upon Audit Quality and Auditor Independence： Evidence from Bahrain

The study aims to focus upon the association between the auditors and companies by indicating how this association affects the quality of audit and auditor independence in a developing country （the case of Bahrain）. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to respondents from audit firms in Bahrain. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the influence of auditor-client association upon quality of audit and auditor independence and how audit quality and auditor independence are improved was also explored in the study. The results show that all the questions （1-8） in the questionnaire impair both audit quality and auditor independence with the means ranging from 3.6000 to 4.0364 with an average mean of 3.7212. According to the measurement scale, any item with a mean of 3.50 or more is acceptable, and since all the influences are above 3.50, they are all acceptable. Regarding how auditor-client relationship （or long tenured auditor） would improve both quality of audit and auditor independence, the results show that all the questions （9-17） would improve both audit quality and auditor independence with the means ranging from 3.6364 to 4.0727 with an average of 3.8646, which are acceptable. These results confirm statistically that there is a significant relationship between the auditor long-term tenure and audit quality and auditor independence, so the null hypothesis （H0） is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted. Simple regression analysis is employed to test the hypothesis of the study and its significance. The results show that （H0） hypothesis is not significant. Therefore, the alternative hypothesis （H1） is significant at p 〈 0.005, which means that there are differences in viewpoints among respondents and the p-value obtained is 0.044 which is less than the significant value of p 〈 0.05. These results confirm the hypothesis that a significant relationship exists between the auditor long-term tenure and quality of audit and auditor independence.

A Statistical Analysis of Reliability of Audit Opinions as Bankruptcy Predictors

This research measures the reliability of audit firms in predicting bankruptcy for United States （US） listed financial institutions. The object of analysis is the going concern opinion （GCO）, widely considered as a bankruptcy warning signal to stakeholders. The sample is composed of 42 US listed financial companies that filed for Chapter 11 between 1998 and 2011. To highlight the differences between bankrupting and healthy firms, a matching sample composed of 42 randomly picked healthy US listed financial companies is collected. We concentrate on financial institutions, whereas the existing literature pays considerably greater attention to the industrial sector. This research imbalance is remarkable and particularly unexpected in the wake of recent financial scandals. Literature points out two main approaches on bankruptcy prediction： （1） purely mathematical; and （2） approaches based on a combination of auditor knowledge, expertise, and experience. The use of data mining techniques allows us to benefit from the best features of both approaches. Statistical tools used in the analysis are： Logit regression, support vector machines （SVMs）, and an AdaBoost meta-algorithm. Findings show a quite low reliability of GCOs in predicting bankruptcy. It is likely that auditors consider further information in supporting their audit opinions, aside from financial-economic ratios. The scant predictive ability of auditors might be due to critical relationships with distressed clients, as suggested by recent literature.

Improving Auditors＇ Going Concern Judgment by Applying Statistical Failure Models as an Analytical Procedure

The main goal of this research is to enhance the auditor＇s judgment ability in going concern opinion by applying bankruptcy prediction models as an analytical procedure. Data for this research have been collected through questionnaires. The statistical population consists of auditors who are members of Iranian Association of Certified Public Accountants （IACPA）. The research results reflect that： （1） Auditors do not use statistical techniques for assessing going concern as an analytical procedure; （2） Auditors do not use these techniques as a tool to decrease the bias of judgments in assessing the going concern assumption; （3） Auditors do not use statistical techniques to assess audit risk in the planning stage; （4） Auditors do not use statistical techniques to assess audit risk in the final stage. Furthermore this research shows that auditors believe that the ＂standard concerning usage of analytical procedures needs more clarification＂ and ＂statistical bankruptcy predication models can help auditors in the planning stage＂. The other goal of this research is to show different auditor＇s judgments in assessing the going concern opinion with and without applying the bankruptcy prediction models as an analytical procedure. The result shows that the judgment of auditors toward the going concern assumption has improved by using statistical bankruptcy predication models.