IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/rqfnac/v58y2022i2d10.1007_s11156-021-01011-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How do auditors respond to accounting restatements? Evidence on audit staff allocation

Author

Listed:
  • Wuchun Chi

    (National Chengchi University)

  • Chien-min Kevin Pan

    (National Chengchi University)

Abstract

We examine how auditors respond to accounting restatements using audit input data from Japan. We find that audit fees, the number of Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed staff, and the number of signing partners are higher for firms in the restatement year than in the year prior to the restatement. Our results also reveal that the increase in audit fees and the higher numbers of CPA-licensed staff and signing partners persist after the restatement year. The results are robust after excluding dismissal of auditors subsequent to the occurrence of restatements. We further find that client firms are not able to gain a fee discount but will be audited by greater numbers of partners if they switch auditors after the restatement. We also obtain consistent results using propensity score matching. Overall, our findings suggest that audit firms increase audit inputs (i.e., higher fees and more experienced staff with a CPA license) in response to their own mistakes (i.e., accounting restatements). Taken together, the results suggest that the increased audit fees may reflect the increase in the risks, but not the risks alone.

Suggested Citation

  • Wuchun Chi & Chien-min Kevin Pan, 2022. "How do auditors respond to accounting restatements? Evidence on audit staff allocation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 847-879, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:58:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s11156-021-01011-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-021-01011-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11156-021-01011-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11156-021-01011-1?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. Graham, John R. & Li, Si & Qiu, Jiaping, 2008. "Corporate misreporting and bank loan contracting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 44-61, July.
    2. Brant E. Christensen & Steven M. Glover & Thomas C. Omer & Marjorie K. Shelley, 2016. "Understanding Audit Quality: Insights from Audit Professionals and Investors," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(4), pages 1648-1684, December.
    3. Nakano, Makoto & Nguyen, Pascal, 2012. "Board size and corporate risk-taking: Further evidence from Japan," MPRA Paper 38990, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Sharad Asthana & Inder Khurana & K. K. Raman, 2019. "Fee competition among Big 4 auditors and audit quality," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 403-438, February.
    5. Palmrose, Zoe-Vonna & Richardson, Vernon J. & Scholz, Susan, 2004. "Determinants of market reactions to restatement announcements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 59-89, February.
    6. Sudheer Chava & Kershen Huang & Shane A. Johnson, 2018. "The Dynamics of Borrower Reputation Following Financial Misreporting," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(10), pages 4775-4797, October.
    7. Kazuo Kato & Meng Li & Douglas J. Skinner, 2017. "Is Japan Really a “Buy”? The Corporate Governance, Cash Holdings and Economic Performance of Japanese Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3-4), pages 480-523, March.
    8. Scott Whisenant & Srinivasan Sankaraguruswamy & K. Raghunandan, 2003. "Evidence on the Joint Determination of Audit and Non‐Audit Fees," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 721-744, September.
    9. Daniel Aobdia & Luminita Enache & Anup Srivastava, 2021. "Changes in Big N auditors’ client selection and retention strategies over time," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 715-754, February.
    10. Patricia M. Dechow & Weili Ge & Chad R. Larson & Richard G. Sloan, 2011. "Predicting Material Accounting Misstatements," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 17-82, March.
    11. Timothy B. Bell & Rajib Doogar & Ira Solomon, 2008. "Audit Labor Usage and Fees under Business Risk Auditing," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 729-760, September.
    12. Gerald J. Lobo & Yuan Xie & Joseph H. Zhang, 2018. "Innovation, financial reporting quality, and audit quality," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 719-749, October.
    13. Pinghsun Huang & Yi-Chieh Wen & Yan Zhang, 2020. "Does the monitoring effect of Big 4 audit firms really prevail? Evidence from managerial expropriation of cash assets," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 739-768, August.
    14. Lennox, Clive & Wu, Xi & Zhang, Tianyu, 2016. "The effect of audit adjustments on earnings quality: Evidence from China," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 545-562.
    15. Bin N. Srinidhi & Ferdinand A. Gul, 2007. "The Differential Effects of Auditors' Nonaudit and Audit Fees on Accrual Quality," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(2), pages 595-629, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Dan Amiram & Zahn Bozanic & James D. Cox & Quentin Dupont & Jonathan M. Karpoff & Richard Sloan, 2018. "Financial reporting fraud and other forms of misconduct: a multidisciplinary review of the literature," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 732-783, June.
    2. Quentin Dupont & Jonathan M. Karpoff, 2020. "The Trust Triangle: Laws, Reputation, and Culture in Empirical Finance Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 217-238, May.
    3. Beardsley, Erik L. & Imdieke, Andrew J. & Omer, Thomas C., 2021. "The distraction effect of non-audit services on audit quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2).
    4. Marie Herly & Jan Bartholdy & Frank Thinggaard, 2020. "A re‐examination of accruals quality following restatements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7-8), pages 882-909, July.
    5. Kyung-Chun Mun, 2022. "Stock market reaction and adjustment speed to multiple announcements of accounting restatements," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 46(1), pages 22-67, January.
    6. Marie Herly & Nikolaj Niebuhr Lambertsen, 2023. "Restatement costs and reporting bias," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 91-117, January.
    7. Chan, Lilian H. & Chen, Kevin C.W. & Chen, Tai-Yuan, 2013. "The effects of firm-initiated clawback provisions on bank loan contracting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 659-679.
    8. Chan Li & K. K. Raman & Lili Sun & Rong Yang, 2020. "The SOX 404 control audit and the effectiveness of additional audit effort in lowering the risk of financial misstatements," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 981-1009, April.
    9. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    10. Philip Beaulieu & Louise Hayes & Lev M. Timoshenko, 2023. "Changes in accounting estimates: An update of priors or an earnings management strategy of “last resort”?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3-4), pages 622-659, March.
    11. Sharad Asthana & Inder Khurana & K. K. Raman, 2019. "Fee competition among Big 4 auditors and audit quality," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 403-438, February.
    12. Jong Chool Park & Qiang Wu, 2009. "Financial Restatements, Cost of Debt and Information Spillover: Evidence From the Secondary Loan Market," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(9‐10), pages 1117-1147, November.
    13. Ghafran, Chaudhry & O'Sullivan, Noel, 2017. "The impact of audit committee expertise on audit quality: Evidence from UK audit fees," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(6), pages 578-593.
    14. Zvi Singer & Jing Zhang, 2022. "Do companies try to conceal financial misstatements through auditor shopping?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1-2), pages 140-180, January.
    15. Samuel Jebaraj Benjamin, 2019. "The Effect of Financial Constraints on Audit Fees," Capital Markets Review, Malaysian Finance Association, vol. 27(2), pages 59-87.
    16. Cory Cassell & Emily Hunt & Gans Narayanamoorthy & Stephen P. Rowe, 2019. "A hidden risk of auditor industry specialization: evidence from the financial crisis," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 891-926, September.
    17. Chan, Lilian H. & Chen, Kevin C.W. & Chen, Tai-Yuan & Yu, Yangxin, 2012. "The effects of firm-initiated clawback provisions on earnings quality and auditor behavior," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 180-196.
    18. Pan, Yue & Shroff, Nemit & Zhang, Pengdong, 2023. "The dark side of audit market competition," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1).
    19. Cheng-Wen Lee & Min-Ying Cheng, 2024. "Audit Quality and Auditors' Party Membership: An Insightful Viewpoint into Financial Restatements," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 14(6), pages 1-9.
    20. Shivaram Rajgopal & Suraj Srinivasan & Xin Zheng, 2021. "Measuring audit quality," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 559-619, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Restatement; Misstatement; Audit inputs; Staff allocation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M42 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Auditing
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:kap:rqfnac:v:58:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s11156-021-01011-1. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://springer.com .

    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.