Auditors often receive summary information or conclusions from management about account balances or internal controls. They must then gather evidence to assess whether this information is fairly stated. In such situations, management can be considered the first mover and the auditor the second...

This study addresses auditors' role in determining the quality of their client's fair value classification judgments for investment securities under ASC 820. The standard requires companies to classify fair value assets into one of three levels (i.e., Level 1, 2, or 3) and there is often...