Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rationale for the failure of management and auditors to identify material internal control weaknesses (ICWs) in their initial Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) 404 reviews, resulting in subsequent restatement of their opinions....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contemplate the degree to which technical expertise in Malaysian Big 4 auditing practice survives periods of material regulatory inflexion sufficiently to underpin quality financial reporting outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – The adoption of...

The costs of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 have been tremendous on small firms. Will there be life, death or transformation for the firm? Although SOX has addressed the concerns relating to the financial scandals of Enron and WorldCom and somewhat restored investor confidence, the financial...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the value of behavioural psychology when considering the effects of legislation on senior management behaviour. Use is made of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the corporate failures that led to its passage. Design/methodology/approach...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine and evaluate the internationalisation of Australian auditing standards by analysing the submissions to the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board's (AUASB) strategic directions paper (SDP) and comparing the proposed and approved strategic...

Purpose – This paper attempts to combine the developments in the accounting area with those in the auditing area. More specifically, it presents the effects of International Accounting Standards (IAS) on the auditor findings and report. Design/methodology/approach – International Standards...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence concerning the effective use of qualitative materiality factors (QMF) included in the new ISA 450, and its potential consequences from the perspective of Spanish independent auditors and preparers of financial statements....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of the length of the audit firm-client relationship and the size of the audit firm on audit quality in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach – To test their hypotheses, the authors use the quadratic form approach, similar to Chi and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether client-specific litigation risk affects the audit quality differentiation between Big N and non-Big N auditors. Specifically, the authors examine whether higher quality audits of Big N auditors relative to non-Big auditors is more...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the responses of South African respondents with all Common Body of Knowledge (CBOK) 2006 respondents in the areas of compliance with the Institute of Internal Auditors' (IIA) International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal...