會計師地位與客戶重要性對商譽減損及時性之影響

Abstract

本研究旨在從會計師之查帳角度出發，探討商譽減損及時性之影響因素。通過應用Li and Sloan (2017)所提出之方法，本研究針對臺灣一般產業及金融產業公開發行公司之資料，計算用以判斷商譽減損跡象之指標。當該等指標顯示商譽有減損跡象時，若公司相應提列了商譽減損損失，則可認為其對商譽減損之認列具及時性。 本文分別以會計師之地位及其審計客戶之重要性兩方面，設定特定變數以評估其對商譽減損及時性之影響。結果顯示會計師之地位對於商譽減損之及時性，具有顯著正向影響。本文以會計師查核之公司規模及數量，作為衡量會計師地位之指標，而該等指標在考慮會計師以往完整經歷之情況下，與商譽減損之認列及時性呈現正相關。然而，分析客戶重要性之結果則顯示，重要客戶可能會延緩商譽減損之認列。 本文之主要結果支持會計師對商譽減損之決策有顯著影響。再進一步針對四大及非四大會計師事務所個別分析，結果顯示事務所規模與其對商譽減損指標之敏感度有關。相較於過往研究多著重在上市公司本身認列商譽之決策，本研究由審計角度著手，為商譽減損及時性之研究領域提供另一觀點。

This study investigates the timeliness of goodwill impairment from the perspective of auditors. Using the methodology in Li and Sloan (2017), I compute indicators of goodwill impairment for publicly listed companies in general and financial sectors in Taiwan. When these indicators signal goodwill impairment and the company records impairment losses, the impairment recognition is deemed as timely. This paper sets specific variables to assess the influence of both the status of audit partners and the importance of their audit clients on the timeliness of goodwill impairment. The results indicate that the status of audit partner has a significantly positive effect on the timeliness of goodwill impairment. This paper uses the size and quantity of companies audited by audit partners as indicators of their status, and these indicators show a positive correlation with the timely recognition of goodwill impairment when considering the full history of the audit partners’ experience. However, the analysis of client importance suggests that significant clients may delay the recognition of goodwill impairment.

The main findings of this paper support the significant influence of audit partners on goodwill impairment decisions. Furthermore, on the results from separate analyses using Big Four and non-Big Four audit firms show that auditors’ sensitivity to goodwill impairment indicators varies by audit firm size. In comparison to prior studies that predominantly focused on public companies' decisions regarding goodwill recognition, this research takes a perspective from the auditors, offering an alternative viewpoint to the study of timeliness in goodwill impairment recognition.