Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Misstatement'

This dissertation considers the reforms made to the liability rules in Australia�s prospectus laws during the 1990s. It traces the rewrite of the fundraising provisions at the end of the 1980s as part of the new Corporations Law through to the rewrite of those provisions at the end of the 1990s as part of the CLERP Act initiative. As the law in this area is not particularly well served by detailed judicial or academic analysis in Australia, the dissertation seeks to define the scope of the Australian liability regime by reference to case law analysis, a review of relevant theoretical considerations and comparative analysis with other key jurisdictions. The thesis of the dissertation is that many of the reforms were, particularly initially, misconceived in key respects because of a failure to apply appropriate theoretical underpinnings and to take account of the lessons that could have been learned from a comparative analysis with other key jurisdictions.

Regulators worldwide are considering expanding current audit reporting model to include key audit matters (KAM). Proponents argue that current audit reports are standardized and uninformative to financial statement users. Auditors in current reporting regime can choose to add explanatory notes in audit reports, however, few current studies have investigated the information content of these explanatory notes. This thesis conducts a textual analysis of explanatory notes in auditor reports and examines the predictability of auditors’ explanatory notes consisting of both unqualified and qualified opinions in determining the incidence of subsequent restatements. I hand collect material accounting restatements disclosed by the public companies in China from 2003 to 2017 and obtain modified audit reports from the CSMAR database during the period between 2003 and 2015. Based on a sample of 22,850 firm-years from 2003 to 2015 in China, I find that modified audit opinions, in general, can communicate financial misstatement risks, and the probability of such risks increases when the type of audit opinion is more severe. I also find that compared with unmodified audit opinion, modified ones containing explanatory notes have a higher possibility of subsequently being restated. Further, the predictive power is not the same across different types of explanatory notes. I have shown that explanatory notes including notes emphasizing contingencies and uncertainties and those relating to audit scope limitations have greater predictive power in explaining subsequent accounting restatements. My findings are robust with a set of additional tests. The findings of this thesis indicate that auditors do communicate financial misstatement risks in modified audit opinions (MAOs). Moreover, the findings are consistent with and provide evidence to support policy changes in developing new enhanced auditor reports introduced by the standard setters in China.

This dissertation consists of three studies. The first study conducts a 2 by 2 experiment to examine how auditors are influenced by the presence of irrelevant information and minor errors (i.e., “dirty documents”) when reviewing audit evidence produced by the client. This study tasks 97 public accountants to review audit evidence and finds some evidence that dirty documents influence an auditor’s assessment of the likelihood of account misstatement and the appropriate sample size. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of eye-tracking and to help generate potential research topics, the second study reviews extant literature in other disciplines where eye-tracking technology is applied to various judgment and decision-making contexts. This study suggests how eye-tracking can enhance extant accounting research. Illustrative examples of promising research opportunities (extending extant research) are provided. In addition, this study identifies how eye-tracking can be applied to more contemporary decision making and educational circumstances. The third study extends the first experiment through the use of eye-tracking technology. This study utilizes the same 2 by 2 experiment as the first study, but in this case records the eye movements of 43 auditing students while they review the audit evidence. The eye-tracking technology provides additional detail as to the specific evidence participants’ focus on during their review. This study finds that participants focus their attention differently depending on whether irrelevant information or minor errors were present.

Revision innebär en granskning av årsredovisningen, bokföringen och förvaltningen. Revisionen delas in i fyra steg vilka går ut på att erhålla och acceptera nya klienter, planera revisionen, utföra granskningen samt slutsatser och rapportering. Det viktigaste steget är planeringen där väsentlighet och risk är centrala begrepp. Väsentlighet är en förutsättning vid granskningen och avgör vad revisionen ska innehålla. Det finns både kvantitativa och kvalitativa faktorer att ta hänsyn till vid en bedömning av väsentligheten. Dessa är exempelvis revisionsprogram och standarder samt erfarenhet och personliga egenskaper. Som hjälpmedel för denna bedömning används ett väsentlighetsbelopp som skiljer det väsentliga från det oväsentliga. Det kan vara svårt med väsentlighetsbedömningar eftersom det är diffust samt att det inte finns någon utförlig vägledning. Hur utförs det egentligen i praktiken? Detta leder oss till forskningsfrågan. Hur bedömer revisorerna väsentligheten vid en revision?

Vårt syfte med uppsatsen är att förstå hur revisorer bedömer väsentligheten vid en revision. Vi vill dels ta reda vad de grundar sin bedömning på och dels utreda hur de kommer fram till väsentlighetsbeloppet. Utifrån detta har vi som delsyfte att jämföra olika stora revisionsbyråer för att se om och i så fall vilka skillnader det finns i väsentlighetsbedömningen.

Uppsatsen grundas på litteratur om revision och revisionsprocessen. Genom dessa kommer vi in på väsentlighet och risk. Detta följs av mer ingående litteratur om väsentlighet, väsentlighetsbedömningen samt kvantitativa och kvalitativa faktorer som är viktiga för bedömningen. Vidare diskuteras väsentlighetsbeloppet och dess olika baser samt skillnader i en väsentlighetsbedömning.

Vi har intervjuat sex personer vid tre stora och tre små revisionsbyråer. Således har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ metod. Vi har använt litteraturen som ett hjälpmedel att formulera våra intervjufrågor och case. Respondenternas diskussioner har presenterats i en empiridel med en tillhörande analys av respektive revisor. Därefter har revisorernas uppfattningar jämförts i en mellanfallsanalys.

Revisorerna grundar sin väsentlighetsbedömning på både kvalitativa och kvantitativa faktorer där vissa revisorer är mer kvalitativa och andra mer kvantitativa. De främsta kvalitativa aspekterna är erfarenhet, branschkunskap, kännedom om ägarna, känsla och personligt omdöme. Viktiga kvantitativa aspekterna är revisionsprogram, disciplinärenden och utbildning. Vidare beräknas väsentlighetsbeloppet med olika baser som underlag. Valet av bas grundar sig bland annat på erfarenhet, företagets verksamhet samt på hur stabil resultatutvecklingen är. De mest vanliga baserna är företagets resultat, eget kapital, balansomslutning och omsättning. Revisionsprogrammen som revisorn använder sig av, för att bedöma väsentligheten, ger förslag på ett väsentlighetsbelopp. Detta använder revisorerna som vägledning vilket dem kan ändra själva utifrån vad de anser är lämpligt. Slutligen ser vi större skillnader revisorer emellan än mellan olika stora revisionsbyråer. Väsentlighetsbedömning handlar därmed mer om personlig bedömning. Således uppfattar vi att det är mer kvalitativt än kvantitativt.

Many external parties such as investors, creditors, and regulatory agencies, use a company’s financial statements in their decision-making. In doing so, they rely on audit opinions on whether financial statements are fairly stated. However, evidence suggests that there are factors in the audit environment that influence auditor judgments. For example, nondiagnostic client information dilutes auditor judgments when compared to judgments based on diagnostic information alone, especially for less experienced auditors (Hackenbrack 1992; Hoffman and Patton 1997; Glover 1994; Shelton 1999). High time pressure conditions mitigate this effect by refocusing auditor attention toward relevant client information, therefore reducing the impact of nondiagnostic information (Glover 1994, 1997). This research study examines other common audit environment factors to determine if they too influence audit judgment results. An online questionnaire of 149 auditors, CPAs and other accounting professionals indicate that the inclusion of nondiagnostic client information results in a significant change in auditor judgments. The direction of this change follows a theorized pattern; risk assessments that were initially high are reduced, while those that were initially low are increased. Significance was not consistently found for a workload and PCAOB effect on auditor judgment. However, a comparison of the absolute value of dilution effect means across conditions reveals some trending for the proposed unwanted effect of high workload, and the beneficial effect of PCAOB guidance. These results have important implications for auditing research and practice. It extends previous archival research on workload effects and uses a unique questionnaire design to reexamine workload pressures in a behavioral setting. The results of hypothesis testing on workload pressure and PCAOB guidance, although lacking consistent statistical significance; exhibit trends that agree with proposed theoretical relationships. Tests on the effects of nondiagnostic information show strong statistical support for previous studies in the area of psychology and audit. This study’s greatest contribution suggests that audit pressures do not produce equivalent effects on auditor judgment; time pressure improves audit judgment, while workload pressure does not (Glover 1994, 1997). These results can be explained by examining the relationship between stress and audit judgment performance (Choo 1995, Yerkes and Dodson 1908). Different types and different degrees of audit pressures may correspond to different levels of audit pressure. Low to moderate levels of audit pressure, such as the level of time pressure used in Glover’s (1994, 1997) study improve audit performance. Higher audit pressures, such as high workload during an auditor’s busy season, may lower audit performance.

Financial misstatements have plagued the financial world for several decades. However they have increased in frequency and affected more stockholders and stakeholders in recent years. This intensity of occurrence has prompted the need for more fraud detecting methods from auditors and government regulators alike. Traditionally, statistical models have been utilized in detecting financial misstatements. However, these statistical models are based on assumptions, such as a log-linear relation among the independent variables, which are not applicable to financial data. Artificial neural networks are not bounded by the limitations affecting statistical models, and have been found to give robust results when applied to classification problems. The purpose of study was to compare unsupervised neural networks, the Nonlinear Principal Component Analysis (NLPCA) network and the Kohonen Self-Organizing Map (SOM), in detecting financial misstatements. As a performance benchmark, the results from the NLPCA and SOM networks were compared to the traditional statistical method, the logit model. The dataset used in this study consisted of firms who issued financial statements for the period 1990 to 2005. The dataset was limited to firms from the computer-technology industry and financial services sectors, and whose annual financial statements were publicly available. Using the matched-pair approach, each fraud firm was paired with a similar non-fraud firm based on industry, time period and size. Unlike the Logit model, the NLPCA and SOM models required the determination of several parameters. The configurations for the NLPCA and SOM models were found experimentally. In order to attain a true comparison between the NLPCA, SOM and Logit models, both training and testing for the models were done with the same samples. Using different metrics for comparison it was found that the NLPCA and SOM models were effective in detecting financial misstatements. It was also determined that these unsupervised neural networks produced better classification accuracies than the Logit model. Additionally, the NLPCA model, which is based on correlational learning, marginally outperformed the SOM model, which is based on competitive learning. The results from this study support future use of NLPCA and SOM as assessment tools in detecting financial misstatements.

This thesis first builds a framework to impose professional liability on Chinese auditors for misstatements and then tests the framework by field work. Auditor liability has been a recurring puzzle. This thesis intends to analyze the complex legal relationships among the players in typical auditing litigations, dissect the arguments from both the auditors and plaintiffs, and develop doctrines and check points that could help the litigation parties to evaluate the merits of their claims, to predict the litigation outcomes, and to mitigate litigation risks in the Chinese setting. The author adopts a utilitarianism perspective and utilizes the theory of “contract and status”. The main methodologies employed include: case report analysis, legal reasoning, interviews, and questionnaire survey. Comparison across jurisdictions and interdisciplinary perspectives have been utilized all through the thesis. In the first part, the author draws a portrait of the Chinese auditing profession, and then moves to synthesize the previous literature on audit liability from both accounting and legal perspectives. After this, a significant part of the thesis is devoted to analyzing the typical UK reported cases since the late 19th century including the Caparo case, Bannerman case and others to discover the UK laws regulating auditor liability. In the following chapter, the recent trends of legislation in the UK and the company law harmonization practice of the EU are reviewed. Then, based on a survey on current Chinese law and an analysis on the feasibility of transplanting the UK and EU practice into China, the author develops a proposed framework integrating doctrines and practical checking points about eligible plaintiffs, duty of care, wrongdoings, standards of care, and damage calculation and allocation in typical litigations. In the second part, the proposed framework is dissected into questions, which are examined through 38 interviews with auditors, regulators, financial statements preparers, and lawyers, and 470 survey questionnaires completed by auditors and members of the financial community, along with questions about responsibility and the technical abilities of auditors. The data from the field produces a cross-section picture of the perceptions of stakeholders on auditor liability. Statistical analysis shows there are significant differences between the auditor and non-auditor on the majority of the related issues, such as auditor’s responsibility, eligible plaintiff, and others. The empirical analysis gives general support for the proposed framework.

Thesis: M. Fin., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Master of Finance Program, 2014.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 56-59).
Using two popular accounting-based models for earnings manipulation (i.e., the Beneish M-Score and the Dechow F-Score) and the financial data of public companies from 2004 to 2012, 1 find that the M-Score (F-Score) predicts less (more) earnings overstatements during the recent financial crisis in 2007-2008 than other sample years. However, a detailed investigation at the industry level reveals that this does not hold in all industries. I further show that the potential misstating firms flagged by the M-Score tend to under-perform the market both at the aggregate and the industry level, and some of those flagged by the F-Score under-perform at the industry level. Finally, by running Fama-French three-factor regressions at the aggregate level, I provide evidence that the firms flagged by the MScore generally yield negative risk-adjusted stock returns. The evidence suggests public availability of financial statements alone does not ensure that all the elements of financial statements are fully integrated into prices in a timely manner. Overall, this study provides substantial support for the use of quantitative accounting analysis in equity trading.
by Suzie Noh.
M. Fin.

While the determinants of low earnings quality (GAAP violation) have been examined in prior research, very few studies have been undertaken in firms with concentrated ownership. Financial reporting in concentrated ownership firms is important because the types of agency conflict shift from the shareholder-agent conflict to the principal-principal conflict (i.e. a conflict between controlling shareholders and outside investors). Against this background, this research aims to reveal the determinants of accounting misstatements in concentrated ownership firms and Thai firms form the basis of the sample. In addition, the research assesses the economic consequences of accounting misstatements – an issue that has received relatively little attention in prior research. A study was conducted of a sample of 51 misstatement firm-years, compared with 2,452 non-misstatement firm-years for the financial reports of public companies listed on Thailand Stock Exchange during 2001-2009. The results indicate that Thai firms are more likely to misstate their financial reports when they are close to debt covenant violations and when they need external finance. Corporate governance mechanisms are also important factors influencing the likelihood of accounting misstatements. The likelihood of accounting misstatements increases when the ultimate owner holds more than 25% of the total shares. The determinants of accounting misstatements coincide with the institutional settings of the country. The study of the consequences of accounting misstatements reveals that misstating firms are more financially constrained than non-misstating firms after misstatement announcements. The net amount of capital supplied by capital providers falls significantly, particularly in the net proceeds from share issuances. The examination of both the determinants and consequences of accounting misstatements extends our understanding on the cost-benefit trade-off in the financial reporting process. The insights from this research might also be applicable to other countries where the country’s institutions are similar to those of Thailand and where ownership concentration is high.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2009.
"School of Accountancy." Keywords: Audit committee, Financial accounting expertise, Internal auditors, Misstatements, Power, Recognition vs. disclosure, Accounting expertise, Financial misstatements. Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-144). Also available online.

The present study examines and finds that internal auditors, particularly Chief Audit Executives, recognize financial accounting expertise as a significant base of audit committee (AC) power in the financial reporting process. However, such an AC expertise (i.e., financial accounting expertise) does not "counterbalance" internal auditors' perceived dependency on management or influence their decisions to monitor financial reporting quality. Instead, the cost-benefit analysis affects their decisions: (1) benefits of staying resolute to monitor financial reporting quality (i.e., "psychological empowerment"), and (2) costs of potential adverse reactions of management who exerts power over the internal audit. In addition, this study examines and finds that the financial reporting location (recognition vs. disclosure) has significant impacts on both internal audit reporting decisions and decisions to correct misstatements. Specifically, internal auditors' tolerances for disclosed misstatements reveal that they also feed the "vicious circle" of reliability expectations as external auditors do in a prior study (Libby, Nelson and Hunton, 2006).

This thesis deals with the internal control concept according to the COSO Integrated Framework for Internal Controls. Internal control definition, objectives and components are reviewed and commented. The emphasis is put on the auditor's understanding the entity's internal control and his responsibility to identify and assess the risk of material misstatement in the financial statements.

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Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo principal verificar se há relação entre a natureza dos Principais Assuntos de Auditoria apresentados nos relatórios dos auditores independentes e os respectivos setores de atuação das companhias. Justifica-se este trabalho com a proposta de avaliar a natureza dos Principais Assuntos de Auditoria definidos pelos auditores independentes como os assuntos mais significativos no contexto da emissão de sua opinião frente às novas normas internacionais de auditoria, para empresas que atuem em um mesmo segmento. Esta pesquisa é realizada exclusivamente de forma documental, pela leitura dos relatórios de auditoria de 2016 das dez maiores empresas, segundo sua posição no market capitalization, dos setores bancário, de seguros e de varejo do Brasil, Reino Unido e Hong Kong. Além da pesquisa documental, este trabalho também é composto por revisão da literatura e normativos que regulamentam a emissão do relatório de auditoria, os quais fundamentam e contextualizam o papel do auditor independente e o conteúdo do relatório de auditoria. Os resultados obtidos indicam que os Principais Assuntos de Auditoria incluídos nos relatórios de auditoria externa de empresas do mesmo segmento de atuação tendem a ser semelhantes entre si, embora também sejam influenciados pelo mercado em que a empresa atua e por fatores específicos à empresa.
This research has as main objective to verify the existence of a relationship between the nature of the Key Audit Matters presented in the independent auditors' reports and the respective segments of the companies. This objective of this project is to evaluate if the nature of the Key Audit Matters defined by the independent auditors as the most significant matters in the context of issuance of their opinion, regarding the new international auditing standards, applies for companies operating in the same segment. This research is prepared exclusively in a documentary way, by reviewing the 2016 audit reports of the ten largest companies, according to its market capitalization, of banking, insurance and retail sectors in Brazil, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. In addition to documentary research, this work is also composed of a review of the literature and standards that regulate the issuance of the audit report, which form the basis and context for the independent auditor's role and the content of the audit report. The results indicate that the main audit subjects included in external audit reports of companies in the same segment tend to be similar, although they are also influenced by the environment in which they operate and by factors specific to each company.

碩士
國立政治大學
會計學系
107
This study uses the timeliness of the misstatement detection of financial statements as the proxy variable of audit quality. Taking the listed company in Taiwan as sample, it analyzes whether audit tenure and audit firm tenure will affect the audit quality. We find that longer audit firm tenure leads to less timely discovery and correction of misstatements. Our findings provide evidence of a negative effect of long audit firm tenure on financial reporting quality, which contrast with the results of the majority of the literatures. Moreover, there is no statistical significant relationship between auditor tenure and audit quality. In addition, we find that after the mandatory rotation in Taiwan, the effect of the audit tenure is not significant.

archives@tulane.edu
Psychology and neuroscience research shows that individuals with negative emotions (e.g., fear) are more sensitive to negative signals and exhibit a higher degree of risk aversion. Using local terrorist attacks as exogenous shocks that cause auditors to experience more negative emotions in the audit period, I empirically study the impact of negative emotions on audit practice. I find that accounting misstatements are less likely to occur for firms when there is a local terrorist attack in the audit period. The reduction in misstatements is stronger for auditors who are located closer to the terrorist attacks. Further evidence suggests that affected auditors are more likely to issue going concern opinions, spend more time on the audit, and charge higher audit fees. I obtain a similar set of results using airplane crashes as an alternative source of emotional shocks. Overall, the evidence is consistent with the idea that auditors with more negative emotions exert greater effort to lower misstatement risks. My findings provide large-scale archival causal evidence that emotions can affect audit outcomes.
1
Pengkai Lin

碩士
國立中正大學
會計資訊與法律數位學習碩士在職專班
103
This study was to review previous research on forensic accounting (both domestic or foreign) and extend the government's analyses on the professional organization, service coverage, regulations, and talent cultivation related to forensic accounting, with the goal of providing references for introducing forensic accounting to the government. This study explored a specific company’s financial statements and found the key elements of material financial statement misrepresentation of. This study further focused on whether forensic accounting could be used to detect financial statement frauds beforehand, develop detection mechanisms for financial crime inspection, and to establish a sound financial market to protect investors and enterprises. Based on the PEWC fraud, this study found the possibilities of prior misinterpretation detection of financial statements and the results were as the following: 1. Concealing the investment information of overseas dummy corporations and banks. 2. Using inaccurate certificate of deposit to offset disbursements. 3. Concealing the embezzlement of sold asset or asset paid by debtors. 4. Issuing Floating Rate Note (FRN). 5. Concealing endorsement in financial statements. 6. CPE settlement of exempted debt. 7. Prior period adjustments of the company's financial statements. 8. Personal income payment masked as payment to administrative expenses of Hong Yi Corp. 9. Actual borrowing behavior disguised through borrowing money for material purchase. 10. Using fraudulent deals to inflate business portfolio for illegal profits.

碩士
國立彰化師範大學
會計學系
95
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the bad audit quality is the cause of auditor sanction and if the auditors improve their audit quality by better professional judgment and be more careful with their perform during the sanctioned year. The audit quality in this thesis is evaluated by the financial statement restatement or the prior period adjustments. The examined samples in this thesis are 4,615 companies with auditor verification record from 2001-2005. The samples were classified into two groups depend on the punishment is audit punished or not. The 100 companies of the experimental samples were auditor punished in the period 2000-2005. The control group is 4,515 companies without audit punishment. The primary results are as follows：1. The misstatements of financial statement by sanctioned auditors are significantly more than those unsanctioned auditors during the sanctioned year. The evidence shows bad audit quality is the cause of audit sanction. 2. After the sanctioned year, there is no significantly relation between sanction and financial statement misstatements. Financial statement misstatement is significantly more in the sanctioned year but the relation is gradually decreased as time pass by. The finding implies that the auditors remember the lesson and the punishment work. They will be more carefully auditing and improve their audit quality.

The study aims to establish an integrated generic investigation process that could be utilised by Commercial Forensic Practitioners in South Africa. Secondly, it aims to determine which investigation processes are currently being utilised in South African forensics practices. An overview is given of the international utilised processes and a basic framework was developed, presented and tested by means of questionnaires to members of the Institute of Commercial Forensic Practitioners in South Africa. The development of an investigation process for Commercial Forensic Practitioners in South Africa could be utilised by the Institute of Commercial Forensic Practitioners to provide a governance structure for the Institute that would enhance the quality of forensic investigations and contribute to the successful investigation and prosecution of commercial crime in South Africa. To achieve the study objective, an empirical study was conducted among current members of the Institute of Commercial Forensic Practitioners in South Africa through the circulation of questionnaires via their website. These results were interpreted, taking cognisance of international practices identified in the literature review. A formalised investigation process was developed and suggested to the Institute of Commercial Forensic Practitioners. Statisticians were involved during the process of designing the questionnaires, and analysing and interpreting the results. The research dealt with a generic investigation process for Commercial Forensic Practitioners. It also dealt with its implementation and investigative performance in South African practices. In this study, an overview of the investigation process for Commercial Forensic Practitioners in South Africa was discussed. The research also analysed the following: * The time period in which organisations implemented the Commercial Forensic Practitioners Process; * The effect of the Commercial Forensic Practitioners Process on investigative performance; and * The integration of the Commercial Forensic Practitioner's process into the budgeting process. The findings of the study revealed the following: * Each of the phases of the Commercial Forensic Practitioners Process is as important as the others in matters that will be presented before court. * An investigation should only be performed if it can be performed properly and in a manner that provides clarity and value to the engagement and its objectives. For this purpose, a Commercial Forensic Practitioner should only accept an assignment if free of conflicts and any independence issues. It is imperative for Commercial Forensic Practitioners to adequately assess not only their relationship to the client and the particular engagement, but also their relationship to any opposing party. This assessment should be done in the context of all other work of the practice, not only that work that is performed by the particular Commercial Forensic Practitioner and direct colleagues. * The Commercial Forensic Practitioner must design, implement and use a robust client and engagement acceptance process that is documented, standardised and, where relevant, agreed with the client. * The role of a Commercial Forensic Practitioner in an investigation process is, therefore, to gather evidence, interrogate and examine the financial evidence, develop computer applications that help in analysing and presenting the evidence, putting forward all the findings in the form of reports, exhibits and documents, and finally taking part in civil actions or litigation as an expert witness, and testifying to the court and presenting all the evidence obtained through documentation or visual aids. It is therefore of the essence that a Commercial Forensic Practitioner be well versed in financial issues and legal concepts and proceedings. * The study found that the majority of respondents (69.3%) were male, while only 30.7% were female. The majority of Commercial Forensic Practitioners fall within two age categories, namely, 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 years. These age categories fall into the productive stage of a working career in the human life-cycle. It is furthermore inferred that the level of experience is of importance, as the majority of participants were well experienced, mostly with at least ten years‟ experience. * A total of 22.7% of respondents indicated that they do not use a formalised investigation process. The majority of respondents (77.3%) thus make use of a formalised investigation process. * The study found that formalised investigation processes are not implemented for the following reasons: -- Managerial and governance processes within practices were sufficient to address the risks posed (41.2%); -- Commercial Forensic Practitioners do not have a formalised investigation process at their disposal (35.3%); -- Commercial Forensic Practitioners are not aware of a formalised investigation process being utilised in industry that could be used (23.5%); and -- The implementation of a formalised investigation process proved too difficult (23.5%). * The most important reasons for implementing a formalised investigation process included reputational risks and quality control of investigative work. It was notable that the study revealed that the industry does not require practitioners to follow any procedures. * It is noteworthy that practitioners did not regard monitoring and management review of compliance with the provisions of their formalised investigation process as an important requirement. The study revealed that the majority of Commercial Forensic Practitioners would measure compliance as an occasional requirement (33.3%); only 23.3% placed compliance as an agenda item for each monthly management meeting and 16.7% as a quarterly agenda item. * The majority (56.3%) of practitioners recognised that integration of a formalised process with the budgeting process could enhance productivity and financial benefits. * The majority of respondents (88.1%) were of the view that there was an improvement in financial performance and/or productivity after the implementation of the formalised investigation process. * 62% of respondents were of the view that there was a significant improvement in financial performance and productivity since the implementation of the formalised investigation process. This finding is significant, as it proves that a formalised process for Commercial Forensic Practitioners in South Africa can have a positive effect on a practise‟s financial performance. The suggested sub-processes, as described, are accepted by the respondents, namely: * Client acceptance, service considerations, risk management procedures, independence and engagement agreements; * Planning and strategic objectives of an engagement, including documented investigative plan incorporating the relevant disciplines (accounting, law, IT, investigative and risk management skills); * Gathering information and evidence, documenting evidence in an evidence file or system and safeguarding evidence as important; * Interviewing, using best practice interviewing skills, by planning the interview to achieve strategic objectives, recording the interview and using technology; * Analysis and verification of evidence; * Quality management, with all reported findings included in referenced working papers supported by documented physical evidence; and * Reporting on findings in a detailed forensic report, clearly and concisely reflecting on the sequence of events, supported by financial information and documents, in a format that could be used in disciplinary enquiries and/or proceedings in civil and criminal courts. These findings fulfil the objective of the study, which was to establish an integrated generic investigation process that could be utilised by Commercial Forensic Practitioners in South Africa and secondly to determine which investigation processes are currently being utilised in South African forensics practices. It was clarified whether the implementation of a formalised process can lead to an improvement in financial performance and what the result of the integration of a formalised process into a practise‟s budgeting process is. It was established that there is indeed a relationship between the integration of the formalised process into the budgeting process and the improved financial performance of a practise. The findings of this study have significant implications for the management of South African Commercial Forensic Practitioner practices. Based on the study findings, the following general and specific recommendations can be made: * The investigation process for Commercial Forensic Practitioners should be fully integrated with the budgeting process of the practise, as this will ensure improved investigative performance by the business; and * Education and research on the investigation process for Commercial Forensic Practitioners should be conducted by the management of a practice before implementing such a process.
MCom (Forensic Accountancy), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This paper examines the occurrence and outcome of auditor litigation related to financial statement misstatements and the effect of auditor misstatement-based litigation on subsequent auditor behavior. The study is motivated by recent calls to limit auditor legal liability and the need to examine the ability of litigation to deter non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) financial reporting. I find that misstatement severity is the primary driver of auditor litigation. Specifically, I find that auditor misstatement-based litigation is more likely when the misstatement is associated with fraud, a regulatory investigation, a larger stock price decline, and/or a greater number of accounting application [i.e., Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)/GAAP) failures. In addition, I find that auditor misstatement-based litigation is more likely to occur when the misstatement is associated with engagement fees that consist of a greater magnitude or a greater proportion of non-audit service fees. Further, I find that misstatement severity and the size of the plaintiffs? claims are the primary drivers of auditor settlements resulting from misstatement-based litigation. Specifically, I find that an auditor settlement resulting from misstatement-based litigation is more likely to occur when the misstatement is associated with fraud, a greater amount of alleged income or equity inflation over the class action time period, and/or a larger alleged percentage drop in share price over the class action time period. With respect to subsequent auditor behavior, I find evidence that auditor litigation results in more conservative subsequent auditor behavior across a litigated auditor?s office-wide client portfolio (that excludes the litigated client). Specifically, in the year following auditor litigation, I find evidence that litigation results in increased auditor constraint of client-reported positive and signed discretionary accruals, as well as longer audit report lags.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
會計學研究所
101
The purpose of this study is to analyze the significant difference between misstating firms and no misstating firms and develop models to detect misstatements. The sample of misstating firms which this paper chooses was subject to the SEC’s AAERs between 2007 and 2013. After analyzing the features of misstating firms, this paper finds that revenue misstatements and expense misstatements are common misstatements. Moreover, this study concentrates on various aspects, such as accruals quality related variables, performance variables, nonfinancial variables, off-balance-sheet variables, and market-related incentives, to analyze the significant difference between misstating firms and no misstating firms. Finally, this paper uses conditional logistic regression to develop detective models, in order to improve the capability of detecting misstatements.

This thesis is focused on role of the external auditor and risks and ethical behavior during his working. During individual phases of audit auditor must pay attention to many parts to determine no misrepresentation information in financial statements. Too he checks up into questions of ethical behavioral, for example by the evaluation of contract´s risk.

As transações com partes relacionadas não eram tradicionalmente tema de grande relevo nos estudos académicos, além de pouca atenção merecerem dos reguladores e supervisores. Os escândalos de fraude no início do século XXI, muitas vezes com relação a transações com partes relacionadas não divulgadas, alteraram a forma de como se passou a ver estas relações económicas, obrigando os reguladores e supervisores a alterar e reforçar os princípios normativos, fortalecendo a transparência e divulgação de partes relacionadas e TPR, bem como a um maior reforço do trabalho do auditor na identificação, avaliação e divulgação destas. A motivação para a realização desta dissertação centra-se neste contexto, apresentando-se com o objetivo de realizar uma revisão sistemática de literatura (RSL) no domínio da temática de transações entre partes relacionadas, identificando a relação entre estas e o risco de distorção material nas demonstrações financeiras. Com base na análise dos dados da RSL, conclui-se que nem sempre a existência de TPR está associada a um aumento do risco de distorção das demonstrações financeiras. A existência de TPR´s, só por si, não aumenta o risco de distorção material e estas devem ser analisadas tendo em conta fatores contingenciais, como o ambiente governativo, o societário, o institucional e o legal. As TPR´s não devem ser generalizadas pois o risco depende do tipo específico da transação, sendo que às vendas de produtos e às concessões de empréstimos estão associadas uma maior probabilidade de manipulação de resultados. Também a venda de ativos não correntes e a prestação de serviços de consultoria e jurídicos por partes relacionadas apresentam indícios de estarem associadas a um maior risco de distorção, embora se tenha encontrado fraca evidência empírica a suportar esta ideia.
Traditionally, related party transactions (RPT) were not a topic in academic studies, and little attention has been given by regulators and supervisors. Fraud scandals on the beginning of the 21st century, in some cases related to undisclosed RPT, transformed the way of these economic relations start being seen, forcing regulators and supervisors to change and to increase normative principles, strengthening the description and disclosure of related parties and RPT, as well as a further strengthening of the auditor's work on identifying, evaluating and disclosing these transactions. The motivation to perform this dissertation is centered in this context and the aim is to carry out a systematic review of the literature in the field of RPT, investigating the correlation between the RPT and the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements. Based on the findings of systematic review, it is concluded that the existence of RPT is not always associated with an increase of risk of material misstatement. The existence of RPT, in itself, not increase the risk of material misstatement, these transactions must be assessed considering the contingency factors such as the specific governance and organizational context and the institutional and legal environment. RPT should not be generalized, the risk depends of the specific type of transaction. Related sales of goods and loans are more likely to earnings manipulation. Also, sales of assets and consulting and legal arrangement to receiving services from related parties appear to be associated with a higher risk of misstatement, although little empirical evidence has been found to support this idea.

碩士
國立臺北大學
法律學系一般生組
103
IIntegrated market mechanism of securities is one of the primary goals of the securities exchange act. To reach this goal, the transparency of corporate information becomes significantly important; as such, the prospectus is created. In order to assure the truthfulness of prospectus and avert corporations from incurring losses to investors by disseminating untrue information while financing, well-arranged mechanism of damages is indispensible; however, according to relevant regulations and judgments by courts, it is doubtful whether our primary market is integrated and investors could acquire proper compensation after suffering losses. This thesis focuses on registration statements, prospectuses and corresponding damages for misrepresentation in light of initial public offering. In hopes of constructing an intact primary market, this thesis discusses potential problems and improvements on article 31 and 32 of the securities exchange act. Considering the fact that many provisions including prospectuses of the securities exchange act in Taiwan are based on the securities act of 1933 and securities exchange act of 1934 of the U.S., this thesis begins by introducing article 5, 11 and 12 of the securities act of 1933 and judgments on registration statements and prospectuses, and then compares them with the relevant stipulations and judgments in Taiwan. Finally, this thesis will provide an analysis on the current difficulties and discrepancies among the laws, and suggest potential amendments on the securities exchanges act of Taiwan by referring to regulations in the U.S. To begin with, this thesis describes the meaning, foundation and the function of the principle of full disclosure, and then discusses the types and contents of prospectuses, the person obligated to deliver prospectuses, and the legal effect of its violation. With respect to regulations on the civil liability of misrepresentation in prospectuses, this thesis points out the divergences and difficulties on the application by courts about its scope, elements, the person being liable for damages, reliance, loss causation and amount of damages, and compares them with related provisions in the U.S. Eventually, this thesis seeks to make a few suggestions on disclosure in the primary market, in order to establish a comprehensive regulation that governs prospectuses.

Audit evidence enables the auditor to express an opinion on the financial statements. To address the risk that the auditor may express an inappropriate opinion, the nature, timing and extent of audit procedures must be responsive to the assessed risks of material misstatement. The auditor must aggregate the levels of assurance obtained from different combinations of tests of controls, substantive analytical procedures and tests of details to respond to the assessed risks. These evidence planning decisions are complex and require professional judgement. Research has found that the extent of audit procedures is not linked to the assessed risks and that auditors may not know to aggregate evidence from different types of audit procedures. Research also supports the use of a structured audit methodology that includes decision models, to guide the application of professional judgement. This leads to the overall objective of this study: the development of an integrated audit evidence planning model to quantify the extent of audit evidence. The study employs a grounded theory model building approach, interpreting the relevant concepts and principles from the literature review into the development of the model. The integrated audit evidence planning model quantitatively relates the extent of audit evidence in a logical and structured manner with the risk assessment and three distinct overall levels of assurance needed to support the audit opinion. It uses the cumulative nature of audit evidence and the compensatory inter-relationship between tests of controls, substantive analytical procedures and tests of details to quantitatively aggregate the extent and levels of assurance from the different combinations of procedures to obtain reasonable assurance at the required overall level of assurance. The model provides a framework for influencing and guiding the exercise of professional judgement and is a practical and effective tool to benefit the users thereof when conducting an audit. Thus, the study models the extent of audit evidence with reference to the aggregation of different types and combinations of evidence and the linkage between the risk assessment and the extent of evidence that provides a flexible framework for the application of professional judgement regarding the gathering of audit evidence.
Auditing
D. Com. (Auditing)

Abstract in English, Afrikaans and Sepedi
The auditing profession is facing criticism for audit firms being associated with clients with a poor ‘tone at the top’ despite auditors being required to assess a company’s ‘tone at the top’, both prior to and during an audit. A problem arises if, should auditors perform an inappropriate ‘tone at the top’ assessment, they may be associated with an unethical company. Moreover, such an inappropriate assessment may result in an incorrect risk of material misstatement assessment and, consequently, an inappropriate audit opinion on the financial statements of the company. A qualitative research approach and a multiple case study design were used to understand how auditors assess a company’s ‘tone at the top’. An audit partner from six JSE-accredited audit firms and senior inspectors from the IRBA were interviewed. It was found that the participating auditors assess a company’s ethical leadership, ethical culture, the governance role of the audit committee and compliance with laws and regulations when assessing a company’s ‘tone at the top’ while adhering to quality control principles. Despite the participants acknowledging both that ‘tone at the top’ assessments are conducted during the pre-engagement and planning of an audit and that the audit engagement partner is responsible for these assessments, there was a lack of evidence in the audit files supporting these assessments. The study findings may enable audit firms to include guidance in their audit methodologies on ‘tone at the top’ assessments and in documenting such assessments and may also assist the IRBA in providing guidance and training to auditors on ‘tone at the top’ assessments.
Die ouditprofessie staar kritiek in die oë as gevolg van die feit dat ouditfirmas geassosieer word met kliënte met 'n swak “karakter aan die hoof”, ten spyte daarvan dat van ouditeurs vereis word om 'n maatskappy se “karakter aan die hoof” voor en tydens 'n oudit te assesseer. Die probleem is dat indien ouditeurs 'n onvanpaste assessering van die “karakter aan die hoof” uitvoer, hulle met 'n onetiese maatskappy geassosieer kan word. Boonop kan so 'n onvanpaste assessering aanleiding gee tot 'n verkeerde assessering van die risiko van wesenlike wanvoorstelling en, gevolglik, 'n onvanpaste ouditmening oor die finansiële state van die maatskappy. 'n Kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering en 'n veelvoudige gevallestudie-ontwerp is gebruik om te verstaan hoe ouditeurs 'n maatskappy se “karakter aan die hoof” assesseer. Onderhoude is met ouditvennote van ses ouditfirmas wat deur die JSE geakkrediteer word en senior inspekteurs van die IRBA gevoer. Daar is bevind dat die deelnemende ouditeurs 'n maatskappy se etiese leierskap, etiese kultuur, die beheerrol van die ouditkomitee en voldoening aan wette en regulasies assesseer wanneer 'n maatskappy se “karakter aan die hoof” geassesseer word terwyl aan gehaltebeheerbeginsels voldoen word. Ten spyte daarvan dat die deelnemers erken dat assesserings van “karakter aan die hoof” uitgevoer word tydens die vooraanstelling en beplanning van ’n oudit en dat die ouditaanstellingsvennoot verantwoordelik is vir hierdie assesserings, is daar 'n gebrek aan bewyse in die ouditlêers wat hierdie assesserings steun. Die studie se bevindings kan ouditfirmas in staat stel om leiding in hulle ouditmetodologieë in te sluit vir assesserings van “karakter aan die hoof” en om sodanige assesserings te dokumenteer, en dit kan die IRBA ook help om leiding en opleiding aan ouditeurs te gee vir sulke assesserings.
Profešene ya go hlakiša e lebane le tshekatsheko ka lebaka la difeme tša tlhakišo tšeo di amanywago le badirelwa ba ‘boikgafo le boetapele bja taolo’ bja go fokola, le ge bahlakiši ba nyakega go lekola ‘boikgafo le boetapele bja taolo’ bja khamphani, bobedi pele ga le nakong ya tlhakišo. Bothata bo tšwelela ge, go ka direga gore bahlakiši ba dire tekolo ya ‘boikgafo le boetapele bja taolo’ yeo e sego ya maleba, ba ka amanywa le khamphani ya go se be le maitshwaro. Gape, tekolo yeo e sego ya maleba, e ka tšweletša kotsi ya tekolo ya setatamente se se fošagetšego sa materiale gomme, ka gona, kgopolo ya tlhakišo yeo e sego ya maleba mo setatamenteng sa ditšhelete sa khamphani. Mokgwa wa dinyakišišo tša temogo le moakanyetšo wa tshepetšo ya dinyakišišo di šomišitšwe go kwešiša ka moo bahlakiši ba lekolago ‘boikgafo le boetapele bja taolo’ bja khamphani. Badirišani ba tlhakišo go tšwa femeng ya bahlakiši yeo e dumeletšwego ya JSE le bahlahlobibagolo go tšwa IRBA ba boledišitšwe. Go utollotšwe gore bahlakiši bao ba kgathago tema ba lekotše boetapele bja maitshwaro bja khamphani, setšo sa maitshwaro, mošomo wa taolo wa komiti ya tlhakišo le go obamela melao le melawana ge go lekolwa ‘boikgafo le boetapele bja taolo’ wa khamphani mola go latelwa mekgwa ya taolo ya boleng. Le ge bakgathatema ba amogela bobedi gore ditekolo tša ‘boikgafo le boetapele bja taolo’ di dirwa nakong ya peakanyo ya pele le thulaganyo ya difaele tša tlhakišo tšeo di thekgago ditekolo tše, ga se gwa ba le bohlatse ka mo difaeleng tša tlhakišo tšeo di thekgago ditekolo tše. Dikutollo tša dinyakišišo di ka thuša difeme tša tlhakišo go akaretša tlhahlo mo mekgweng ya bona ya tlhakišo mo go ditekolo tša ‘boikgafo le boetapele bja taolo’ le go ngwala ditekolo tšeo, gape di ka thuša gape IRBA ka go fa tlhahli le tlhahlo go bahlakiši mo ditekolong tšeo.
Business Management
M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

The main aim diploma thesis was the evaluation possibilities of detection accounting fraud and misstatements in financial reports for the managing business corporations. Diploma thesis is divided into two main chapters on literature search and practical. Part of this work was the analysis of techniques and models of of detection performed on a case study of a selected accounting unit. For of individual models calculations were used accounting data from financial statements that were provided by AB, s. r. o. An entity shall compile both financial statements comprehensibly, to give a true and fair view of accounting and financial situation. Risk analysis for of detection manipulation of financial statements, I chose Beneish model, model CFEBT and Jones Nondiscretionary Accruals.