Predicting audit failure: evidence from auditing enforcement releases

• Autores: Cristina de Fuentes Barberá , Rubén Porcuna Enguix
• Localización: Revista española de financiación y contabilidad, ISSN 0210-2412, Vol. 48, Nº 3, 2019, págs. 274-305
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Predicción del fallo del auditor: evidencia sobre sanciones
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• Dialnet Métricas: 4 Citas
• Resumen
  • español

    Este estudio pretende identificar los determinantes principales del fallo del auditor y contribuir al debate actual sobre la duración del contrato y la independencia del auditor, tras la reciente regulación por la Unión Europea. Se identifica el fallo del auditor con la sanción impuesta por el ICAC tras una investigación. La muestra de sanciones a auditores individuales y firmas de auditoria abarca el periodo 2002-2013. Nuestros resultados revelan que la probabilidad de que el auditor cometa una infracción aumenta cuando la empresa cliente tiene más dificultades financieras, el auditor es más permisivo hacia prácticas de gestión del resultado que aumentan los beneficios y el informe está firmado por un auditor individual. Los resultados también muestran una asociación positiva entre la duración del contrato y el fallo del auditor, pero únicamente en el caso de auditores individuales. El peso económico relativo del auditor-cliente también está asociado de forma positiva al fallo de la auditoría, posiblemente porque las firmas auditoras están más preocupadas por la pérdida de reputación que conlleva un gran escándalo financiero que por la presión económica asociada a la pérdida de un cliente.

  • English

    This study aims to identify the main determinants of audit failure and contribute to the current debate raised by recent European Union regulation on auditor’s tenure and economic policies to prevent impairment of auditor’s independence. We approach audit failure through auditing enforcement releases triggered by the investigations conducted by the Spanish public oversight board. The sample of sanctioned individual auditors and audit firms covers the period 2002–2013. Our results reveal that audit failure likelihood increases when the probability of financial distress is higher, the auditor is permissive of upward earnings management, and the audit report is signed by an individual auditor. The results reveal a positive association between auditor tenure and audit failure only for individual auditors. The relative economic weight of the auditor–client is also positively associated with audit failure, plausibly because audit firms are more concerned with reputation loss tied to big scandals than succumbing to economic pressure from their clients.

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