Accounting tools
Mehri Bakhteyari; Javad Rezazadeh; kumars Biglar
Abstract
The implementation of the engagement quality control review (EQCR) by the engagement quality control reviewer has been considered as one of the key elements of quality control in the auditing standards and its implementation is required in the audit of companies listed on the stock exchange. In this ...
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The implementation of the engagement quality control review (EQCR) by the engagement quality control reviewer has been considered as one of the key elements of quality control in the auditing standards and its implementation is required in the audit of companies listed on the stock exchange. In this research, the data were collected through (1) conducting interviews with 25 partners of Iranian auditing firms in the spring and summer of 2023 and (2) the opinions of 12 certified accountants that were published in a newspaper or professional journals in the form of a conversation, round table, notes or articles. Then, by applying the grounded theory, the components that are the obstacles to the effective application of EQCR are identified and presented in the form of a conceptual system model. The validity of the research model was confirmed by 7 audit partners. The findings from the analysis of research data show that there are various obstacles in its different dimensions, the most important of which are: the structure and organization of some audit firm, the small size of many audit firms, economic considerations, low fees of Iranian audit firms, lack of qualified auditors, moral issues in the society, the society's specific problems, governing laws and regulations, weaknesses in quality grading of audit firms, inadequate communication with international professional communities, low awareness of auditing and lack of development, and low application of technology in Iranian audit firms. Considering that the international auditing standard 220 has been updated and includes more requirements for the EQCR, along with the findings of this research showing that the quality control standard is not effectively implemented by Iranian audit firms, some suggestions are given to fill these gaps.IntroductionThe objective of a firm is to design, implement, and operate a system of quality control for audit, review of financial statements, or other assurance or related services engagements performed by a firm, that provides the firm with reasonable assurance that: (a) The firm and its personnel fulfill their responsibilities in accordance with professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements, and conduct engagements in accordance with such standards and requirements; and (b) Engagement reports issued by the firm or engagement partners are appropriate in the circumstances. According to the auditing standards, engagement quality review is an objective evaluation of the significant judgments made by the engagement team and the conclusions reached thereon, performed by the engagement quality reviewer and completed on or before the date of the engagement report. Engagement quality reviewer is a partner, other individual in the firm, or an external individual, appointed by the firm to perform the engagement quality review (IAASB, 2020). Surveys show that engagement quality control review, as one of the key elements of quality control, has not been established in Iranian audit firms. Its causes have not been clarified in previous research. Therefore, in this research, we seek to clarify its causes and obstacles.Research Question(s)What are the obstacles of applying engagement quality control review in Iranian audit firms?Literature ReviewEngagement quality control review is one of the key elements of the quality control system of auditing firms, which is considered in the auditing standards. The literature review shows that this issue has not been studied in Iran. However, some Iranian certified public accountants and audit firm partners have pointed out some obstacles of implementing quality control reviews in the form of notes and roundtables published in professional journals. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has described the key issues of quality control review in the United States in 2023 in a report entitled " SPOTLIGHT: Inspection Observations Related to Engagement Quality Reviews". This report shows that there are still many concerns about the quality control review (PCAOB, 2023).MethodologyConsidering the nature of the research problem, which is subjective and relies on the experience of audit institution partners, the application of a qualitative research approach is deemed appropriate. Additionally, since no specific theory has elucidated this phenomenon and there has been no prior research in this area, the use of grounded theory is fitting. Conducting interviews is one of the main methods of data collection in grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin,1990). Therefore, research data have been collected through interviews. Interviews were conducted with 25 partners of audit firms in the spring and summer of 2023. It is noteworthy that in grounded theory, all information is considered as data (Danai Fred et al., 2013). Hence, discussions, roundtables or articles published by 12 Iranian certified public accountants in professional journals or newspapers were also used as data. In the qualitative method of research, unlike the quantitative approach, statistical sampling is not important and sampling is judgmental. That is, people who have the most experience and involvement with the studied phenomenon are selected. Interviews with participants continue until theoretical saturation is reached, meaning that new participants do not introduce new insights beyond what has already been discussed.The interviews are then transcribed, and conceptual tags are attached to each sentence or paragraph of the text. In grounded theory, data analysis is done in three stages: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. In this research, three methods were used to analyze the data.ResultsAfter conducting the research and data analysis, it is found that there are various obstacles in various dimensions for the application of quality control in Iranian audit firms. These obstacles were extracted in the form of conceptual tags. Based on selective coding, they were classified into different categories. To provide a comprehensible presentation of the barriers, these conceptual labels were categorized and presented in the form of inputs, processes, outputs, consequences, and contextual factors. Presenting these conceptual labels of obstacles in different dimensions helps us to have an accurate picture of the causes and obstacles so that we can adopt strategies to solve them. Some of the most important obstacles are: the structure and organization of some audit firms, the small size of many audit firms, economic considerations, low fees of Iranian audit firms, lack of qualified auditors, moral issues in the society, the society's specific problems, governing laws and regulations, weaknesses in quality grading of audit firms, inadequate communication with international professional communities, low awareness of auditing, and lack of development, and low application of technology in Iranian audit firms.DiscussionIn this research, after analyzing the data, many obstacles are extracted in various dimensions. These factors limit the effective implementation of engagement quality control review as one of the key elements of the audit quality control system. With these conditions, achieving audit quality becomes challenging.ConclusionIn this research, the obstacles to the application of quality control review in Iranian audit firms were examined. The findings show that there are many obstacles in different dimensions. The structure and organization of some audit firm, the small size of many audit firms, economic considerations, low fees of Iranian audit firms, lack of qualified auditors, moral issues in the society, the society's specific problems, governing laws and regulations, weaknesses in quality grading of audit firms, inadequate communication with international professional communities, low awareness of auditing and lack of development, and low application of technology in Iranian audit firms are the main obstacles to the application of engagement quality control review in Iranian audit firms. If these obstacles are not removed, the audit quality of Iranian audit firms will be affected. Additionally, in the present circumstances, it cannot be assured that professional standards will be fully followed. This research is the first Iranian research that has studied this issue and can be an avenue for future research. Future research could study other stakeholders or rank these obstacles. Furthermore, conducting similar research in the future will clarify the extent to which these obstacles can be overcome. The findings of this research can provide a clear perspective on engagement quality control review in Iranian audit firms and its obstacles to regulators, such as the Iranian Association of Certified Public Accountants (IACPA). One suggestion arising from the findings could be to increase the weight of the scores related to the engagement quality control review. Another suggestion would be to promote and clarify the benefits of engagement quality control review for audit firms. The last suggestion is the training of competent quality control reviewers by the AICPA or other educational and professional centers.AcknowledgmentsWe acknowledge the participants in this research who helped us.
Gholamreza Kordestani; Javad Rezazadeh; Javad Rezazadeh
Abstract
Investigating the Relation Between Accruals and Operating Cash Flows and Effective Factors on this Relation can be useful for shareholders and capital market analysts. The purpose of this study is to investigate the Relation Between Accruals and Operating Cash Flows and Effective Timing and Economic ...
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Investigating the Relation Between Accruals and Operating Cash Flows and Effective Factors on this Relation can be useful for shareholders and capital market analysts. The purpose of this study is to investigate the Relation Between Accruals and Operating Cash Flows and Effective Timing and Economic Factors on this Relation. To do so, data of 107 stocks listed in Tehran Stock Exchange in a period of 11 years during 2005 to 2015 were analyzed. First of all, with utilization of times-series regression, the relationship between accruals and cash flows over time were examined. Afterwards, Effective Timing and Economic Factors that could affect this relation were considered utilizing Time-Series Regressions. The results indicate a significant negative relationship between Accruals and Operating Cash Flows showing drops from about -0/997 in 2005 to -0/347 in 2015. Furthermore, out of five potential factors, three of which including Timing-Related Cash Flow Shocks, increases in non-timing-related accrual recognition, as proxied by one-time and non-operating items and the growth of intangible-intensive industries play a role in the majority of the overall decline. In other words, the growth in the frequency and the magnitude of these items has given rise to a decrease in the negative accrual–cash flow relation and operational Cash Flow Shocks throughout the project.
Javad Rezazadeh; Kamal Zareie Moravvej
Volume 5, Issue 20 , January 2008, , Pages 89-105
Abstract
The purpose of this study is examining the impact of worldwide known factors on auditor changes in Iranian corporations. For the study, the population of interest comprises all companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). The sample comprises 37 auditor-change TSE companies and 37 non-auditor-change ...
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The purpose of this study is examining the impact of worldwide known factors on auditor changes in Iranian corporations. For the study, the population of interest comprises all companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). The sample comprises 37 auditor-change TSE companies and 37 non-auditor-change TSE companies. Logistic analysis is performed on the sample data. The findings indicate that audit fee, audit quality, change in management composition, and firm size are significantly influencing variables on auditor changes. Logistic multivariate analysis indicate that factors such as audit fee, audit opinion, change in management composition, and firm size can be used to establish a model to predict auditor changes.
Ali Saghafi; Javad Rezazadeh
Volume 1, Issue 1 , April 2003, , Pages 3-39
Abstract
This study examines the relationship among the cultural values of Iranian society, disclosure and conservatism degree of Iranian firms in presentation of financial statements. It is argued that an empirical relation exist between the cultural value, as conceived by Hofstede’s theory of the four ...
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This study examines the relationship among the cultural values of Iranian society, disclosure and conservatism degree of Iranian firms in presentation of financial statements. It is argued that an empirical relation exist between the cultural value, as conceived by Hofstede’s theory of the four dimensions of cultural values (power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and masculinity) and the accounting values are captured by Gray’s two dimension (conservatism and secrecy). 64 corporate annual reports registered on Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) were examined in order to determine whether culture values correlate with the degree of conservatism and level of disclosure. The results in general support the theoretical expectations.
