This study indicates that increasing the frequency of informal communication between the audit committee and the audit team can positively impact reporting quality, but auditors need to be sensitized to how management may exhibit undue influence and its potential to undermine audit committee effectiveness. From a practical standpoint, this study indicates that failing to consider specific expectations communicated by the audit committee can have severe consequences.

Brown, J. O. and V. K. Popova. 2016. The Interplay of Management Incentives and Audit Committee Communication on Auditor Judgment.  Behavioral Research in Accounting 28 (1): 27-40.

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 This study is the first to establish IAF characteristics as separate, distinct constructs that act jointly in creating IAF quality; therefore, it contributes to the overall understanding of IAF quality and the determinants of the IAF as an effective internally based financial reporting monitor.

 Abbott, L. J., B. Daugherty, S. Parker and G. F. Peters. 2016. Internal Audit Quality and Financial Reporting Quality: The Joint Importance of Independence and Competence. Journal of Accounting Research 54 (1): 3-40.

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 The results of this study are important to consider when examining the effects of the audit committee on managers’ judgments. This study identifies the changes to the reporting environment stemming from the implementation of SOX, particularly with respect to communications between auditors and the audit committee and the authority and responsibility of the audit committee. This study adds insight to prior archival research that suggests that audit committees considered to be effective are associated with greater financial reporting quality. Further, these findings suggest that managers act as if auditors and audit committees that jointly resist management pressures to engage in aggressive reporting play important roles in ensuring high financial reporting quality.

 Brown-Liburd, H., A. Wright and V. Zamora. 2016. Managers’ Strategic Reporting Judgments in Audit Negotiations. Auditing, A Journal of Practice and Theory 35 (2): 47-64.

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 Preserving an image of effective monitoring can be just as important as preserving effective monitoring itself. AC-member ineffectiveness due to financial reporting increases the likelihood of AC turnover for both the AC-members who served during the events precipitating the financial reporting failure as well as the “tainted” AC-members (even if they were not serving as AC-members when the events precipitating the financial reporting failure occurred). This result shows that shareholders may take bold and visible actions to “clean house” when such financial reporting failures are revealed. Regarding individual characteristics, under normal circumstances characteristics of an AC-member’s potential ineffectiveness such as multiple board commitments may actually be seen as desirable by shareholders perhaps signaling the quality of the AC-member. However, when shareholder dissent increases these individual characteristics of an AC-member’s potential ineffectiveness increases the likelihood of turnover for that particular AC-members but does not “taint” the other AC-members. That is, characteristics once viewed as slightly positive for specific AC-members become negatives when shareholder dissent increases.

 Kachelmeier, S. J., S. J. Rasmussen, and J. J. Schmidt. 2016. When Do Ineffective Audit Committee Members Experience Turnover?. Contemporary Accounting Review 33 (1): 228-260.

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This study offers insights into why internal auditing is experiencing a shortage of qualified job candidates and offers a potential solution to the problem. The authors find that external auditors have negative perceptions about internal auditing, and these negative perceptions are associated with a (1) decreased desire to apply for internal auditing positions, (2) lower likelihood of recommending an in-house internal auditing career to high-performing students, and (3) higher likelihood of recommending an in-house internal auditing career to mediocre students. Internal auditors can try solving this problem by improving perceptions about internal auditing via a media campaign that raises awareness about the true internal audit career path.

Bartlett, G.D., J. Kremin, K.K. Saunders, and D.A. Wood. 2016. Attracting Applicants for In-House and Outsourced Internal Audit Positions: Views from External Auditors. Accounting Horizons 30 (1): 143-156.

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