IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jiaata/v19y2010i2p121-136.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internal audit department characteristics/activities and audit fees: Some evidence from Hong Kong firms

Author

Listed:
  • Ho, Sandra
  • Hutchinson, Marion

Abstract

This study provides preliminary support for the notion that internal audit function assists in reducing external audit effort and fees. Data on internal audit characteristics and activities are obtained from survey respondents of Hong Kong companies and audit fee model data are acquired from their annual reports. The results of this study suggest that the external auditor of firms in Hong Kong rely on the internal audit function and subsequently charge a lower fee. Lower external audit fees are associated with a larger internal audit department and certain activities carried out by the internal audit. Specifically, lower external audit fees are associated with more internal audit effort spent on activities relating to financial statements, systems development and maintenance, operating efficiency and effectiveness, fraud investigations and unlimited access to internal auditors’ working papers. The results of this study suggest that the contribution of the internal audit may substitute for some substantive external auditing processes and lower monitoring costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Ho, Sandra & Hutchinson, Marion, 2010. "Internal audit department characteristics/activities and audit fees: Some evidence from Hong Kong firms," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 121-136.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jiaata:v:19:y:2010:i:2:p:121-136
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2010.07.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1061951810000170
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2010.07.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schneider, A, 1985. "The Reliance Of External Auditors On The Internal Audit Function," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 911-919.
    2. Easton, Pd & Harris, Ts, 1991. "Earnings As An Explanatory Variable For Returns," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 19-36.
    3. Simunic, Da, 1980. "The Pricing Of Audit Services - Theory And Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 161-190.
    4. William L. Felix, Jr. & Audrey A. Gramling & Mario j. Maletta, 2001. "The Contribution of Internal Audit as a Determinant of External Audit Fees and Factors Influencing This Contribution," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 513-534, December.
    5. Kothari, S. P. & Sloan, Richard G., 1992. "Information in prices about future earnings : Implications for earnings response coefficients," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2-3), pages 143-171, August.
    6. Leuz, Christian & Nanda, Dhananjay & Wysocki, Peter D., 2003. "Earnings management and investor protection: an international comparison," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 505-527, September.
    7. Brown, Pr, 1983. "Independent Auditor Judgment In The Evaluation Of Internal Audit Functions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 444-455.
    8. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    9. Margheim, Ll, 1986. "Further Evidence On External Auditors Reliance On Internal Auditors," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 194-205.
    10. Ball, R & Brown, P, 1968. "Empirical Evaluation Of Accounting Income Numbers," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 159-178.
    11. William F. Messier & Arnold Schneider, 1988. "A hierarchical approach to the external auditor's evaluation of the internal auditing function," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(2), pages 337-353, March.
    12. Basu, Sudipta, 1997. "The conservatism principle and the asymmetric timeliness of earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 3-37, December.
    13. Stijn Claessens & Joseph P. H. Fan, 2002. "Corporate Governance in Asia: A Survey," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 3(2), pages 71-103, June.
    14. Jenny Goodwin‐Stewart & Pamela Kent, 2006. "Relation between external audit fees, audit committee characteristics and internal audit," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(3), pages 387-404, September.
    15. Francis, Jere R., 1984. "The effect of audit firm size on audit prices : A study of the Australian Market," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 133-151, August.
    16. Ali, Ashiq & Chen, Tai-Yuan & Radhakrishnan, Suresh, 2007. "Corporate disclosures by family firms," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 238-286, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Krane, Ronja & Eulerich, Marc, 2020. "Going global: Factors influencing the internationalization of the internal audit function," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    2. T. Ohidoa & O. Omokhudu Okun, 2018. "Firms Attributes and Audit Fees in Nigeria Quoted Firms," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 8(3), pages 685-699, March.
    3. Wan-Hussin, Wan Nordin & Bamahros, Hasan Mohammed, 2013. "Do investment in and the sourcing arrangement of the internal audit function affect audit delay?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 19-32.
    4. Andrei Ankudinov Borisovich & Elena Markhanova Sergeevna & Андрей Анкудинов Борисович & Елена Марханова Сергеевна, 2018. "Оценка эффективности внутреннего аудита в системе корпоративного управления: эмпирический анализ по данным российских компаний // Assessment of Internal Audit Efficiency in Corporate Governance: an Em," Учет. Анализ. Аудит // Accounting. Analysis. Auditing, ФГОБУВО "Финансовый университет при Правительстве Российской Федерации" // Financial University under The Government of Russian Federation, vol. 5(1), pages 18-29.
    5. Jinyu Yang & Woody Liao & Bin Liu & Henggui Shi, 2014. "Does Organizational-level Affiliation of Internal Audit Influence Corporate Risk-Taking? -Evidences from Chinese Listed Companies," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 3(1), pages 1-27, February.
    6. Murad Harasheh & Roberta Provasi, 2023. "A need for assurance: Do internal control systems integrate environmental, social, and governance factors?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 384-401, January.
    7. Thiéry, Stéphanie & Lhuillery, Stephane & Tellechea, Marion, 2023. "How can governance, human capital, and communication practices enhance internal audit quality?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    8. Ibrahim Mert, 2021. "The Effects of Collaboration between Internal Auditing and Financial Affairs Departments: A Survey Conducted through the Internal Auditing and Financial Affairs Departments," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 3, pages 96-114.
    9. Redhwan Ahmed Al-Dhamari & Bakr Al-Gamrh & Ku Nor Izah Ku Ismail & Samihah Saad Haji Ismail, 2018. "Related party transactions and audit fees: the role of the internal audit function," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(1), pages 187-212, March.
    10. Sierra-García, Laura & Gambetta, Nicolás & García-Benau, María A. & Orta-Pérez, Manuel, 2019. "Understanding the determinants of the magnitude of entity-level risk and account-level risk key audit matters: The case of the United Kingdom," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 227-240.
    11. Dykxhoorn, Hans J. & Sinning, Kathleen E., 2010. "A review and analysis of international accounting research in JIAAT: 2002–2010," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 137-153.
    12. Markus Widmann & Florian Follert & Matthias Wolz, 2021. "What is it going to cost? Empirical evidence from a systematic literature review of audit fee determinants," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(2), pages 455-489, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kamarudin, Khairul Anuar & Ariff, Akmalia M. & Jaafar, Aziz, 2020. "Investor protection, cross-listing and accounting quality," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    2. Fargher, Neil & Wee, Marvin, 2019. "The impact of Ball and Brown (1968) on generations of research," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 55-72.
    3. Schneider, Arnold, 2010. "Analysis of professional standards and research findings to develop decision aids for reliance on internal auditing," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 96-106.
    4. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2013_013 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Mishiel Said Suwaidan & Amer Qasim, 2010. "External auditors' reliance on internal auditors and its impact on audit fees: An empirical investigation," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 25(6), pages 509-525, June.
    6. Kothari, S. P., 2001. "Capital markets research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 105-231, September.
    7. Leventis, Stergios & Hasan, Iftekhar & Dedoulis, Emmanouil, 2013. "The cost of sin: The effect of social norms on audit pricing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 152-165.
    8. Al-Sehali, Mohammed & Spear, Nasser, 2004. "The decision relevance and timeliness of accounting earnings in Saudi Arabia," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 197-217.
    9. Irena Jindrichovska, 2001. "The relationship between accounting numbers and returns: some empirical evidence from the emerging market of the Czech Republic," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 107-131.
    10. Leventis, Stergios & Hasan, Iftekhar & Dedoulis, Emmanouil, 2013. "The cost of sin: The effect of social norms on audit pricing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 152-165.
    11. Mohamed Naceur Mahjoubi & Ezzeddine Abaoub, 2015. "Earnings Response Coefficient as a Measure of Market Expectations: Evidence from Tunis Stock Exchange," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(2), pages 377-389.
    12. Bliss, Mark A. & Gul, Ferdinand A. & Majid, Abdul, 2011. "Do political connections affect the role of independent audit committees and CEO Duality? Some evidence from Malaysian audit pricing," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 82-98.
    13. Lasse Niemi & W. Robert Knechel & Hannu Ojala & Jill Collis, 2018. "Responsiveness of Auditors to the Audit Risk Standards: Unique Evidence from Big 4 Audit Firms," Accounting in Europe, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 33-54, January.
    14. Reiner Quick & Philipp Henrizi, 2019. "Experimental evidence on external auditor reliance on the internal audit," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 13(5), pages 1143-1176, November.
    15. Shan, Yuan George & Troshani, Indrit & Richardson, Grant, 2015. "An empirical comparison of the effect of XBRL on audit fees in the US and Japan," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 89-103.
    16. Habib, Ahsan, 2008. "The role of accruals and cash flows in explaining security returns: Evidence from New Zealand," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 51-66.
    17. Ji-Hye Park & Joong-Seok Cho, 2016. "The Effect of Earnings Recognition on Firm-Specific Information Variation," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 6(2), pages 386-391.
    18. Ferdinand A. Gul, 2006. "Auditors' Response to Political Connections and Cronyism in Malaysia," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 931-963, December.
    19. Truong, Cameron & Corrado, Charles & Chen, Yangyang, 2012. "The options market response to accounting earnings announcements," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 423-450.
    20. Leventis, Stergios & Hasan, Iftekhar & Dedoulis, Emmanouil, 2013. "The cost of sin: The effect of social norms on audit pricing," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 13/2013, Bank of Finland.
    21. S. P. Kothari & Charles Wasley, 2019. "Commemorating the 50‐Year Anniversary of Ball and Brown (1968): The Evolution of Capital Market Research over the Past 50 Years," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 1117-1159, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jiaata:v:19:y:2010:i:2:p:121-136. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-international-accounting-auditing-and-taxation .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.