Discussion of “Internal Control Weaknesses and Client Risk Management”

This study focuses on the relationship between the internal audit reporting line to the audit committee, the implementation of internal audit recommendations, and the amelioration of internal control weaknesses. It also concentrates on whether adequate monitoring processes are put in place to address weaknesses in internal control. A total of 338 UK listed companies comprised the sample with data being obtained from their chief internal auditors and annual reports. The findings indicate that weaknesses in internal control are indeed conditioned by whether the internal audit reporting line is primarily to the audit committee or to management, and whether recommendations made by internal audit are implemented. Additionally, a relationship is found between the absence of official monitoring/follow-up procedures and reporting weaknesses in internal control. After being subject to further analysis, these results are confirmed as robust.

The Influence of External Auditor's Working Style, Communication Barriers and Enterprise Risk Management toward Reliance on Internal Auditor's Work

The cost stickiness of information technology material weaknesses: An intertemporal comparison between it-related and other material weaknesses

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of European sustainability regulations on the degree of co-operation among audit committees, internal auditors and external auditors. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on online questionnaires completed by 112 German audit committee members, internal auditors and external auditors, adopting a research approach with qualitative components. Findings This study reveals that although the three authorities have strengths within financial and industry expertise and possess a solid base of financial, personnel and technical resources, they have deficiencies in dealing with social and, notably, environmental issues such as water and marine resources as well as biodiversity and ecosystems. However, increased sustainability-related communication and opportunities for collaboration could positively impact sustainability oversight. The parties could mutually alleviate their workloads by involving environmental experts or by conducting aligned audits of sustainability-related internal control and risk management systems performed by internal and external auditors under the strategic oversight of the audit committee. Despite potential benefits, parties tend to overestimate their own capabilities and seek assistance from one another for environmental issues, hindering effective co-operation and fostering resentment. Originality/value This research contributes by stressing the need to consider environmental capabilities in the work and profiles of all three parties. It also highlights the importance of audits of sustainability-related internal control and risk management systems co-ordinated by the audit committee and performed by internal and external auditors.

The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) argues that internal auditors often have a strong “employee” identity within their organization. While external auditors are concerned that this employee identity might negatively impact internal auditors' objectivity, the IIA argues this identity can actually be beneficial as employees may be more willing to share sensitive and audit-relevant information with the internal auditor than they would with the external auditor. Through an experiment relying on the social identity and organizational silence literatures, I test the prediction that non-audit employees will identify more highly with the internal than the external auditor and they will thus, be willing to share more information about internal control weaknesses with the internal than the external auditor. The results from a moderated mediation analysis support this prediction and also show the effect is stronger as the severity of the internal control weakness increases. Overall, this research informs external auditors and regulators about conditions under which the internal auditor may have an advantage over the external auditor in obtaining information that could help improve audit quality. It also informs managers about an important role played by their internal auditors that may result in increased quality of the internal control system while also potentially lowering audit fees.

Assessing the Client's Risk Management Performance in Construction Procurement and Contracting: Case Studies

Purpose The authors investigate whether the different tenure phases of executives have a differential effect on audit pricing. Two alternate views – career concern and power – can explain the effect of executives’ tenure on audit pricing. This paper aims to determine, which viewpoint dominates in explaining the relationship between audit pricing and executive tenure phases. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 11,198 firm-year observations from 2007 to 2016, the authors adopt an ordinary least squares regression model to assess the impact of the middle and long phases of executives’ tenure on audit fees. Findings Audit fees are significantly lower when executives enter the middle and long phases of tenure. The reduction in audit fees is greatest as both chief executive officers and chief financial officers enter the long tenure phase. Although audit fees gradually decrease as executive tenure is extended, they start increasing two years before the end of executive tenure. Furthermore, the negative association between the executive tenure phase and audit fees is greater when the executive is appointed externally. Finally, the long phase of executive tenure also mitigates the positive relationship between audit fees and internal control weaknesses. Research limitations/implications This study is based on US data. Future research may extend this study to other countries. Practical implications The findings are important to firms, practitioners and academicians, particularly, as the length of tenure of top executives has increased in recent years. By documenting that executives’ middle and long tenure phases reduce audit fees, the findings highlight the importance of maintaining executives in the firm. Finally, the findings have implications for investors, policymakers and auditors to identify companies with high audit risk. Originality/value This study is the first to document the impact of executives’ middle and long tenure phases on audit fees.

<p>Internal auditing is crucial for evaluating and improving internal control processes within government entities. Its primary objective is to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of internal controls, risk management, and governance processes. By identifying weaknesses and suggesting improvements, internal auditors contribute to better resource utilization and accountability. Internal audits can be conducted at various levels within the government, including central agencies, ministries, departments, or individual entities. This allows for a comprehensive examination of different aspects of government operations. Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) are independent governmental bodies responsible for conducting external audits of public sector entities. They assess the effectiveness and efficiency of financial management, compliance with laws and regulations, and the overall stewardship of public resources. While internal auditors focus on assessing internal controls and ensuring the reliability of financial information, SAIs provide an external perspective on the quality and impact of internal auditing within government entities. This collaboration helps promote good governance, transparency, and accountability in the use of public resources. A robust control system, which includes internal control, risk management, and audit functions, is essential for good governance. It helps safeguard public funds and maintain public trust. Adopting a risk-based approach to integrity and implementing targeted controls can enhance efficiency and effectiveness in resource utilization. Collaboration with citizens, the media, and non-governmental organizations further strengthens the functioning of the control system. This engagement enhances transparency and accountability and ensures that the government is responsive to the needs and concerns of the public. Internal and external auditing by SAIs are vital components of the public financial management system. They work together to assess and improve government operations, enhance accountability, and ensure the efficient use of public resources, ultimately contributing to good governance. In Sierra Leone, SAIs is likened to Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL). The concurrent triangulation approach is a specific mixed methods model used in this study. The research findings reveal that the internal audit department of the University of Sierra Leone is not adequately resourced to perform its functions effectively. However, segregation of duties and access to information is maintained but requires a functional audit committee, an increased number of competent auditors, and auditing software.</p><p><strong>JEL:</strong> H83, M42, H11, H72, H76, K42, O17</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0771/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

This study aims to analyze and provide empirical evidence of the influence of corporate governance structure and client risk towards audit fees. Corporate governance structure in this study uses the existence of independent commissioner, audit committee and majority shareholder. The bond ratings is used to measure client risk. This study uses secondary data from Indonesian Capital Market Directory (ICMD), annual reports, and bond ratings from PT. PEFINDO of companies which listed on Bursa Efek Indonesia in 2012-2013. This study uses purposive sampling method and resulted 104 firms. The method of analysis of this study used multi regression with SPSS 15.0. Program. The results indicate that corporate governance structure had no influence on audit fees, client risk have a positive influence on audit fees.

SYNOPSIS We investigate how the geographic distribution of domain-specific internal audit education impacts financial reporting quality and audit efficiency in the U.S. Using universities with Centers for Internal Auditing Excellence as proxies for robust internal audit education, we find that companies headquartered in close proximity to these programs have fewer material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting, fewer financial statement misstatements, and shorter audit lags, and sometimes pay lower audit fees compared with a matched sample of companies not in close proximity to these programs. These findings have implications for practitioners responsible for the staffing and quality of their internal audit functions, the Institute of Internal Auditors in its education-collaboration initiatives, and higher-learning institutions responsible for educating future audit practitioners. These findings also contribute to the academic debate on the value of internal audit and determinants of internal audit function quality. Data Availability: Data are available from sources cited in the text.

The Impact of Organizational Identity and Professional Norm Salience on Internal Auditorss Assessments of Internal Control Weaknesses

The level of development of state control points to systemic problems of state administration and affects the state of economic security in the region. The author conducted a study of the Russian practice of internal control and internal audit in the public sector. The functions of internal financial control duplicate the functions of line management for operational management. Internal financial audit means the audit of the financial and economic activities of the institution. Comparison with the provisions of conceptual documents and standards has made it possible to identify that internal financial control and internal financial audit does not fully correspond to the representations of these documents. The author substantiated the need to transform internal financial control in internal control, internal financial audit into internal audit. The author proposed to supplement with the specialization “Economic and legal support of economic security in the public sector” specialty 38.05.01 “Economic security”.

The relevance. Optimization of the state’s regulatory and legal policy in the field of internal control and internal audit undoubtedly involves large-scale work in a risk-oriented environment, which is impossible without a chronological analysis of the development of the systems under consideration. What makes it difficult largely in the circumstances of an inter-sphere imbalance turns out to be the necessity to search for alternative ways of further development not only at the micro level, but also on the scale of the national economy as a whole. This makes financial market regulators, government structures, practitioners to study comprehensively the evolutionary transformations of both domestic internal control and audit, as well as foreign experience. The objective of the research is to analyse in the context of the historical development of such responsibility centers as internal control and internal audit. It is the chronological aspect, that becomes one of the most powerful resources for the development of qualitatively new tools to improve business efficiency, in the context of the ongoing ideological fatigue of the existing paradigm. The methodology is based on historical and chronological research, the method of modeling and systematisation. It is proved that a close correlation of the functions performed by the internal control system with the elements of corporate governance provides an enhanced impact due to the interchange between the methods, procedures, and technologies used in the implementation of managerial functions. The authors suggested the concept, that global triggers will lead to the subsequent prospects for the transformation of internal control, evident in transformations in regulation, unification of control systems. They will partly depend, first of all, on the further epidemiological situation (which has caused a severe disturbance in every sphere of public life), rapid development of IT technologies together with the escalation of information security threats, risks, as well as global geopolitical instability in general. Research results provided scales for the development of internal control for global and domestic control systems, which clearly correlate with the ongoing changes in economic systems.

This study examines the determinants of external audit fees in Kosovo's evolving audit market, investigating how various client and audit firm characteristics affect pricing in a transitional economy. Drawing on data collected from the Kosovo Council for Financial Reporting (KCFR) and licensed statutory audit firms covering 2019 to 2022, the research applies multiple regression models to explore the relationship between audit fees and key independent variables. The findings demonstrate that larger clients and those with higher complexity incur greater audit fees, underscoring the additional effort and resources required to perform thorough audits. Additionally, the size of the audit firm significantly affects fee levels, with larger firms typically charging more for their services. In contrast, within Kosovo's current regulatory and economic context, client risk and corporate governance show little influence on audit fees. These results suggest that audit firms could benefit from adopting transparent pricing models that reflect client size and complexity, ensuring fairness in fee determination. This study is the first economy-wide study to integrate institutional-void theory with audit-pricing models in a transitional micro-economy, isolating the Law 06/L-032 shock and examining its moderating effect on brand premia. It extends post-2020 debates on digitalisation, inflation, and market concentration to a nascent audit market.

The economic determinants of audit fees have been examined extensively among public companies, both in the US (e.g. Simunic, 1980; Gist, 1992) and internationally (e.g. Anderson and Zhégal, 1994). These studies have been based on audits of publicly-traded firms, which were surveyed to determine the audit fees. In the US pension plan audit market, audit fees are publicly disclosed, eliminating the potential for response bias present in most other audit fee studies. Additionally, unlike the public company audit market, the pension plan audit market is not dominated by the Big Six accounting firms, and audit fees in the pension plan audit market are smaller than in the public company audit market. This study examines the generalisability of the audit fee model by applying the model in the pension plan audit context. In accord with other audit fee studies, results indicate that client characteristics, including client size and risk, are associated with pension plan audit fees. In contrast with other studies, findings regarding market factors do not suggest a difference in fee structures between Big Six and non-Big Six firms, and the results indicate that auditor changes do not affect pension plan audit fees.