For more than twenty-five years auditing research has examined whether knowledge spillovers or synergies exist from the joint provision of audit and non-audit services as well as whether the audit client benefits from knowledge spillovers. However, empirical evidence on knowledge spillover...

We examine the auditor perception of recognized vs. disclosed obligations as they relate to two key decisions auditors make: determining audit fees and whether to issue a going concern opinion. We study two pairs of obligations – capital leases and operating leases and on-balance sheet and...

Much of the extant audit research focuses on the impact of excess audit fees paid to the auditors on earnings management. However, there is limited empirical evidence on whether auditors tolerate earnings management when audit fees are low, i.e., below the level of normal fees. Using a large...

We examine auditor independence in the banking industry by analyzing the relation between fees paid to the auditors and the extent of earnings management through loan loss provisions (LLP). We also examine whether this relation differs across large banks whose managements are required under the...

One of the important attributes of high quality accounting information is its ability to aid financial statement users in forming expectations about the firm's future earnings. Prior research finds that accounting financial expertise of the audit committee is associated with higher financial...

Prior research suggests that the efficacy of a formally independent member of the board of directors could be undermined by social ties with the CEO. In this study, we examine the relation between CFO/CEO-board social ties and earnings management over the 2000-2007 time period. Our results...

Recently, some firms have decoupled their audit and tax service providers in an effort to improve the perceived credibility of their financial statements. Many firms, however, continue to rely on their current auditor for tax services. Therefore, we examine whether investors assign a lower...

On November 15, 2007, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) eliminated the requirement that foreign private issuers reporting under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) include a reconciliation to U.S. GAAP in their 20-F filing. To the extent that the reconciliations...

Capitalization of software research and development costs (SDC) under SFAS No. 86 is the only exception to SFAS No. 2 which calls for immediate expensing of R&D costs. Although intangible assets have become increasingly relevant for firm valuation, they remain largely unexplored in audit...

While auditor attestation of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) is required for firms with a public float of at least $75 million (accelerated filers), the SEC has delayed auditor attestation for non-accelerated filers several times. The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010...