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The impact of Big 4 consulting on audit reporting lag and restatements

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  • Michele D. Meckfessel
  • Drew Sellers

Abstract

Purpose - This paper responds to concerns raised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and scholars over the rapid growth of Big 4 consulting practices. This paper aims to explores the question: Does the regrowth of sizable consulting practices by the Big 4 influence audit reporting lag and restatement rates? Design/methodology/approach - A population of the SEC-registered US audit clients of the Big 4 was used in this study. Longitudinal data on Big 4 audit clients from 2000 through 2009 were analyzed to determine the impact of consulting practice size on the clients’ audit reporting lag and restatement rate. Findings - This paper finds that consulting practice size has a positive and statistically significant influence on audit reporting lag and restatement rate. The results are robust to alternative specifications of the sample and controlling for the level of non-audit services provided to audit clients. Practical implications - The findings contribute to the discussion of the scope-of-services issue. They provide empirical support for Zeff’s (2003) and Wyatt’s (2004) intuition that the loss of Big 4 professional focus – not simply conflicts of interests – is a major factor affecting the audit quality. Originality/value - The uniqueness of this paper is in how it counts restatements. Each year this paper counts that annual financial statements are restated as opposed to each disclosure of a restatement. This paper’s contribution is to examine the association between the regrowth of Big 4 accounting firm consulting practices with audit reporting lag and restatements.

Suggested Citation

  • Michele D. Meckfessel & Drew Sellers, 2017. "The impact of Big 4 consulting on audit reporting lag and restatements," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(1), pages 19-49, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:majpps:maj-02-2016-1321
    DOI: 10.1108/MAJ-02-2016-1321
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Susana Escaloni & Mercedes Mareque, 2021. "Audit Report Lag. Differential Analysis between Spanish SMEs and Non-SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-21, November.
    2. van Brenk, Herman & Renes, Remko & Trompeter, Gregory M., 2022. "Auditing in the public interest: Reforming the profession by building on the strengths of the existing accounting firms," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Patrick Velte, 2023. "The impact of external auditors on firms’ financial restatements: a review of archival studies and implications for future research," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 959-985, September.
    4. Souha Ben Gamra & Fadhila Hamza & Hela Borgi, 2022. "The Impact of IFRS Adoption and Corporate Governance Mechanisms on Audit Report Lag: Evidence from An Emerging Country," Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 21(4), pages 604-630, December.
    5. Ayad Ahmed Mohammed Al-Qublani & Hasnah Kamardin & Rohami Shafie, 2020. "Audit Committee Chair Attributes and Audit Report Lag in an Emerging Market," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(4), pages 475-492, July.
    6. Beylem Çelik & Gökhan Özer & Abdullah Kürşat Merter, 2023. "The Effect of Ownership Structure on Financial Reporting Timeliness: An Implementation on Borsa Istanbul," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.

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