PCAOB檢查報告第二部份之公開對會計師意見出具行為之影響

Abstract

本研究旨在探討公開發行公司之會計監督委員會 (PCAOB) 檢查報告第二部份的公開對會計師意見出具行為之影響。過去關於PCAOB檢查之文獻多以報告第一部份為研究對象，但由於第二部份揭露的係攸關會計師事務所整體之品質管制系統缺失，應較第一部份所揭露者更為全面，對事務所之影響亦更為嚴重，故本研究選擇以第二部份被公開者為研究對象。又過去文獻就第一部份探討與審計品質之關聯時偶有衝突結論，而會計師行為乃影響審計品質之根本，繼續經營疑慮意見 (going-concern opinion) 亦常被作為審計品質之代理變數，因此本研究遂以繼續經營疑慮意見之出具與否衡量會計師行為是否改變。 本研究實證結果顯示，受PCAOB檢查之事務所，與第二部份未被公開者相比，被公開之事務所出具繼續經營疑慮意見之機率下降，代表會計師行為受到負向影響。此外，本研究進一步探討被公開之事務所，其意見對客戶破產或清算申請之預測能力，並發現相對於未被公開之事務所，被公開者所出具之繼續經營疑慮意見對客戶破產或清算之預測能力較低。 透過本研究之發現，除拓展有關PCAOB檢查報告第二部份之文獻外，亦希望財報使用者對於第二部份受公開之事務所所查財報更加留意，同時政策制定者或PCAOB宜對檢查作業作適當調整，以避免會計師行為的改變反而背離改善審計品質之初衷。

This research examines whether the release of PCAOB inspection part II reports affects auditors’ issuance of going-concern opinions. Prior literature of PCAOB inspection focuses on part I reports. However, the release of part II reports shows significant deficiencies in auditors’ quality control system, which is relevant to the whole audit firm. Accordingly, its impacts on audit firms should be more pervasive and harmful than the release of part I reports. In addition, prior literature finds mixed results on the relationship between part I disclosure and audit quality. Therefore, the sample in this study includes the audit firms with publicly released part II of PCAOB inspection reports. Because auditors’ behavior has the fundamental effect on audit quality, this study uses auditors’ issuance of going-concern opinions as a more direct measure of audit quality. We find that audit firms with publicly released PCAOB part II reports are less likely to issue going-concern opinions relative to audit firms without PCAOB part II reports. This study also examines the relation between audit firms with part II reports and their clients’ bankruptcy or liquidation filings. The results show that going-concern opinions issued by audit firms with publicly released part II reports have lower predictive ability of clients’ bankruptcy or liquidation. This study extends prior research on PCAOB inspection reports by focusing on the effect of part II reports. The results suggest that financial statements users should pay more attention to audit firms whose part II reports have been released. The findings in this study also provide policy implications for the PCAOB to re-examine its inspection process so that the release of inspection reports would not adversely affect audit quality.