The quality of the opinion provided by audit firms is an important determinant of their long-term survival, but audit quality is difficult to gauge, which makes it particularly sensitive to the behaviour of the individuals who carry on audit work. This paper seeks to identify the incidence of...

Purpose – The quality of the opinion provided by audit firms is an important determinant of their long‐term survival, but audit quality is difficult to gauge, which makes it particularly sensitive to the behaviour of the individuals who carry on audit work. This paper seeks to identify the...

Purpose – Audit helps both shareholders and stakeholders to make informed decisions about future directions, based on how the company is performing. The issue of audit exemption among small companies has been addressed in studies in the UK, Australia and Singapore, together with several...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of ethnicity on auditor choice for Malaysian listed companies. Design/methodology/approach – This study evaluates the effects of various independent variables on auditor choice behaviour, particularly ethnicity of auditor and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine two factors which influence auditor change: audit and client firms’ characteristics, for Malaysian listed companies. Given the costs involved, it is important to understand the reasons why companies change their auditor and choose a...

Sullivan suggests that the alternative audit approaches adopted by accounting firms be expressed in terms of “structure” and “judgement”, with a division provided by the degree to which auditor judgement is replaced by structured quantitative algorithms. Cushing and Loebbecke attempt to...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of the tax agent as a preparer of tax returns and provider of professional tax advice under a system based on self‐assessment principles. It recognises the competing pressures under which tax agents attempt to discharge their...

Terry Smith’s infamous Accounting for Growth (1992) clearly demonstrated the differences in the use of accounting policy manipulations, impacting on profit and loss account and balance sheet for companies and industries. Now evidence has emerged in Australia (Smith et al. , 1997), of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate individual or personal factors contributing to individual auditor differences in acceptance of dysfunctional audit behaviour (DAB). Dysfunctional behaviour and staff turnover are associated with decreased audit quality, and is characterised...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate individual or personal factors contributing to individual auditor differences in acceptance of dysfunctional audit behaviour (DAB). Dysfunctional behaviour and staff turnover are associated with decreased audit quality, and is characterised...