دانلود رایگان مقاله تنظیم کیفیت حسابرسی: بازگرداندن اعتماد و مشروعیت

Abstract

The global financial crisis, corporate failures and scandals in many countries raise significant questions audit quality. In the UK, the FRC took the unprecedented step of codifying audit quality in its ‘Audit Quality Framework’. We analyze the extent to which audit firms, professional bodies, and investors considered the FRC proposals sufficient for addressing concerns about audit quality. Using impression management and legitimacy as a framework to analyze stakeholder responses we go beyond audit quality drivers identified by the FRC. In contrast to the drivers identified by the FRC, our focus on transparency, expertise, professionalism and commercialization of the audit shows that FRC, audit firms and professional bodies have mainly focused on issues which possibly do not pose a threat to the commercial interest of audit firms. Overall, our analysis shows that regulatory and professional bodies engaged in image management and the promotion of audit quality in an attempt to remedy tarnished image and augment their legitimacy and standing. In attempting to restore trust and legitimacy regulatory bodies, such as the FRC, have to reconcile complex often contradictory stakeholder demands.

4. Concluding remarks

Corporatemalpractices provided a freshimpetus to the debate concerning audit quality. Coinciding withvariousmeasures adopted in many countries aimed at restoring trust in auditing and governance, the Financial Reporting Council’s attempt to develop an ‘Audit Quality Framework’ (FRC, 2008) marked a significant development in the UK. No other regulatory body has tried, or felt the need, to codify audit quality. In the context of existing academic research on audit quality, this paper focused on the response of three groups – professional accounting bodies, audit firms and investors – to the FRC’s (2006) discussion paper Promoting Audit Quality. We have found that overall all three groups generally supported the FRC’s approach, but they considered the FRC’s response insufficient. We found that respondent groups advanced various points indicating the need for FRC to address additional issues in order to improve audit quality. To legitimise its existence the auditing profession has a vested interest in convincing users that accountants can be trusted. Regulatory pronouncements and audit firms’ engagement in the post-Enron debate relating to audit quality show an evident concern with protecting the profession. In contrast to investors, responses to the FRC audit quality initiative from audit firms and professional bodies display concern with protecting the interests of the professional accounting body corporate and its individual members. In expressing their position audit firms, however, were concerned with preventing too much prescription and emphasised the importance of recognising the role of professional judgements in audit quality. Whilst generally appearing supportive of the FRC proposals, audit firms were, however, keen to emphasise the role of other parties, in particular that of audit committees in promoting audit quality.