COMMENTARY––Audit Quality and the Public Interest

The article investigates audit companies‘ specialization among the public interest companies of Lithuania. Prior literature explores various advantages of industry auditors – auditors who specialize in particular industries while enhancing the main part of clients in the industry branch. Industry auditors reach higher level of audit quality, while making more effective planning decisions, assessing more effectively client‘s business risk, as well as the risk of material misstatement, complying at highest rate with auditing standards. 154 public interests companies of Lithuania were analysed in order to assess whether the is a trend of auditors‘ specialization in a market of public interest companies in Lithuania. Results of the research imply auditors tending to specialize themselves in mainly all branches of industries, reaching highest rate of clients in particular industry of pension funds, investment funds and credit institutions. The results also disclose some evidence of industry auditors keeping their audit prices at higher level than their competitors, as well as their reputation being quite stable reaching more adds than losses. Issues concerning industry expertise auditors‘ quality significantly affects auditors‘ reputation. The results of the research taken support conclusions of vast body of prior researches on auditors‘ specialization implying that particular industry auditors may achieve and enhance higher level of audit quality.

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COMMENTARY––A Public Interest View of Auditor Independence: Moving Toward Auditor Reliability When Considering and Promoting Audit Quality

Accounting and the Public Interest ◽

10.2308/apin-10498 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 53-63

Author(s):

F. Todd DeZoort ◽

Mark H. Taylor

Keyword(s):

Financial Reporting ◽

Public Interest ◽

Audit Quality ◽

Reporting Quality ◽

Auditor Independence ◽

Financial Reporting Quality ◽

Public Accounting ◽

Holistic View ◽

The Public ◽

Regulatory Bodies

ABSTRACT A longstanding view inside and outside the auditing profession is that the public accounting profession rests on the foundation of independence (Previts and Merino 1998), with regulatory bodies requiring auditors to be independent both in appearance and in fact. For many decades, regulators and stakeholders alike have held the view that auditor independence is the auditor's endgame. We review recent research on the Reliability Framework, which recasts auditor independence with other professional constructs, including integrity, competence, and objectivity, as co-antecedents of auditor reliability and audit quality. On that basis, this commentary advocates that a public interest view of auditor independence must account for the auditor's real reason for existence based on what stakeholders want and need: reliable audit services that facilitate financial reporting quality and protect the public interest. Recent initiatives by the Center for Audit Quality and its member firms, as well as the profession's regulators, reveal movement consistent with this holistic view. These developments indicate that the public interest view of auditor reliability is shifting toward a revised view of independence, along with other professional constructs that co-create audit quality and reliable financial reporting.

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In the Public Interest

Maandblad Voor Accountancy en Bedrijfseconomie ◽

10.5117/mab.91.24048 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 91 (9/10) ◽

pp. 256-257

Author(s):

Philip Wallage

Keyword(s):

Public Interest ◽

Audit Quality ◽

Research Projects ◽

Multiple Stakeholders ◽

The Public ◽

The Status ◽

Stakeholder Perspective ◽

Multi Stakeholder ◽

Oversight Body

The 2nd International FAR Conference on June 7 and 8 focused on the topic Controversies in Future Audit Quality A multi-stakeholder perspective'. With a challenging Minister of Finance, a critical oversight body, enthusiastic and renowned (inter)national academics, a broad and engaged audience, the Conference brought new and relevant insights for both academics and practitioners. Controversies regarding audit quality were discussed and several academics presented the status of their FAR research projects. The current MAB-FAR issue presents an overview of the interactions between multiple stakeholders and of the research projects.

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The Auditing Standards Committee of the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association's Response to the International Auditing and Assurance Standard's Board's Invitation to Comment: Enhancing Audit Quality in the Public Interest

Current Issues in Auditing ◽

10.2308/ciia-51565 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. C1-C25 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Christine E. Earley ◽

Karen L. Hooks ◽

Jenifer R. Joe ◽

Paul W. Polinski ◽

Zabihollah Rezaee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Control ◽

Public Interest ◽

Audit Quality ◽

Standard Setting ◽

Data Availability ◽

Professional Skepticism ◽

The Public ◽

Auditing Standards

SUMMARY: On December 17, 2015, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) issued an Invitation to Comment entitled Enhancing Audit Quality in the Public Interest: A Focus on Professional Skepticism, Quality Control and Group Audits (hereafter, the ITC). The ITC highlights the IAASB's discussions regarding the three separate, but related, topics: professional skepticism, quality control, and group audits, in order to solicit feedback on these topics from various stakeholders. The ITC also discusses potential standard-setting activities the IAASB could participate in to enhance audit quality. The comment period ended on May 16, 2016. This commentary summarizes the contributors' views on selected questions posed in the ITC. Data Availability: The invitation to comment (as of May 23, 2016) is available at: https://www.ifac.org/system/files/publications/files/IAASB-Invitation-to-Comment-Enhancing-Audit-Quality.pdf

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