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This study aims to analyze the effect of audit findings and audit recommendations follow-up on the quality of financial reports and the quality of public services in the context of applying accrual accounting systems to local government in Indonesia. This study also examines whether the quality of the financial report affects the quality of public services.

This study employed cross-sectional regression using data from 1,437 observations from 491 districts/cities for 2014–2016. The data illustrates the conditions prior to the adoption of the accrual accounting system (2014), the initial year of application/transition period (2015) and the second year of the expected accrual accounting system (2016).

The results of the study indicate that, in general, the quality of financial reports affects the quality of public services. Regarding the implementation of audits in the public sector, it is also found that audit findings have a negative impact on the quality of financial report and the quality of public services, while audit recommendations follow-up plays a positive role in improving the quality of financial report and the quality of public services.

The implication of the results of this study is closely related to the efforts to realize the ultimate goal of the recent government reforms. In order to increase the quality of public services in the era of higher report requirements through an accrual accounting system, the government should focus on the quality of financial reports, audit findings and the audit recommendations follow-up.

This study provides new insight on the link between the public sector auditing and the quality of accounting in accrual implementation context and the quality of public services.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the scope, methodology and main findings of a doctoral thesis about engagement factors that impact the performance audit of capital projects in California. This research was taken from an agency theory perspective.

The research study was conducted by gathering a large sample of publicly available statutorily‐required performance audits from complex capital programs, extracting factor data from the audit reports, and objectively and empirically comparing the effects of different factors on audit results. In addition, data from expenditure audits and risk‐based audits was gathered for comparison regarding audit scope. By focusing on facts, and using large samples of data to establish a view of the phenomena, in order to explain facts through testing of hypotheses, the research stance adopted was Positivist in nature. The overall research methodology employed was quantitative, and based on largely categorical data.

The results identified the importance of audit methodology and scope in the performance assessment of construction projects. This research included a contribution in two spheres: auditing and procurement. Whilst prior research on program audit and performance audit was limited, the findings from this research complemented and added new knowledge to existing theory developed earlier on financial audits, and contributed new knowledge to performance audit theory.

Public and private sector entity auditees need to understand the factors that impact performance audit results and effectiveness, so that they may appropriately define the performance audit scope, the solicitation for services, select the audit team, and provide support to the auditors during the engagement. This research is amongst the first to explicitly address and conceptualize the factors that affect capital program performance audit results and, thus, the potential for changes in procurement, resulting in program performance improvement.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which audit opinion, audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local governments’ commitment influence the disclosure of financial statements on the official website of local government.

The data of this research comprise 68 financial statements during the period 2015–2016 collected from 34 local governments across Indonesia by employing the census method. The data then are analyzed using logistic regression.

The results of this study show that audit opinion has a positive significant influence on the disclosure of financial statements on local government websites in Indonesia, while the audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local governments’ commitment have no significant influences on the disclosure of financial statements local governments’ websites across Indonesia.

The study contributes to the public sector accounting research by enhancing our understanding to the disclosure of financial statements on local government websites.

A meta-evaluation is an assessment of evaluation practices. Meta-evaluations include assessments of validity and usefulness of two or more studies that focus on the same issues. Every performance audit is grounded explicitly or implicitly in one or more theories of program evaluation. A deep understanding of alternative theories of program evaluation is helpful to gain clarity about sound auditing practices. We present a review of several theories of program evaluation.

This study includes a meta-evaluation of seven government audits on the efficiency and effectiveness of tourism departments and programs. The seven tourism-marketing performance audits are program evaluations for: Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Minnesota, Australia, and two for Hawaii. The majority of these audits are negative performance assessments. Similarly, although these audits are more useful than none at all, the central conclusion of the meta-evaluation is that most of these audit reports are inadequate assessments. These audits are too limited in the issues examined; not sufficiently grounded in relevant evaluation theory and practice; and fail to include recommendations, that if implemented, would result in substantial increases in performance.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the level of attributes of the internal audit function relates to the effectiveness of internal audit services in local government authorities (LGAs) in Tanzania.

Data have been collected through a survey whereby 510 respondents from LGAs in Tanzania through their Heads of Internal Audit Functions, Internal Auditors and Chairpersons of Audit Committees respond to the questionnaire. The data were subjected to principal component analysis and exploratory factor analysis to reduce the set of items and to provide continuous scores for use in multiple regression analyses.

The findings reveal that audit quality; organization setting and auditee attributes have a significant positive influence on the effectiveness of internal audit services in LGAs in Tanzania.

The study covered only LGAs in Tanzania. Future research in this field should address the gaps identified in the study.

This paper highlights areas that need management attention on the improvement of the effectiveness of internal audit units.

This paper contributes to the literature of both internal auditing and management studies by linking the level of attributes of internal audit function which are audit quality, organization setting, auditee attributes and effectiveness of internal audit services in Tanzania.

This paper aims to present a novel pedagogical approach to education for sustainability within the business curriculum that adopts a sustainability audit of a fictional company presented as a case study as the focus of learning, teaching and assessment. It evaluates the user’s ability to provide the active learning called for in education for sustainability literature and hands-on learning that business management students prefer.

This study explores students’ qualitative and quantitative responses to pre- and post-module surveys and module evaluations to establish the effectiveness of focussing learning, teaching and assessment on a sustainability audit. The study, undertaken over a two-year period, adopts four indicators of learning and teaching effectiveness to synthesise, evaluate and present the findings as follows: development of sustainability knowledge and skill, employment skills, career and life skills and engagement.

The study finds that a sustainability audit can develop students’ knowledge and skills in all four indicators of learning and teaching effectiveness. In addition, the findings suggest it can raise students’ learning awareness and recognition of their role in the learning process.

This paper reports the findings of a small scale, two-year study. As such, it presents indicative findings rather than generalised conclusions.

Designing a pedagogical approach to education for sustainability within the business curriculum around the completion of a sustainability audit can offer hands-on learning experiences that meet students’ preferences for interactive, experiential and collaborative learning within real-world environments, employers’ demands for employment-ready graduates and educators’ hopes for sustainability advocates.

This study builds on the existing pedagogic discourse of pedagogic means and methods for education for sustainability within the business curriculum. It provides insight into effective hands-on education for sustainability within the business curriculum and offers experience-based guidance to educators seeking to develop immersive, active and experiential, real-world pedagogical approaches.

The financial audit process has provided much transparency into the internal control structure and the ability of local governments to remain fiscally stable. The outcomes of many of these audits have provided much information regarding the ability of local governments to provide services in a timely and efficient manner. Even with the implementation of stricter legislation and more stringent accounting standards in addition to an increased level of state oversight, irregular practices and mismanagement continue to occur. This study examines the independent auditor findings in professionally administered governments in North Carolina. Findings indicate numerous reporting problems within a majority of county governments ranging from internal control problems to reconciliation issues that are required to be addressed for information users that question the sustainability of the unit. Lengthy audits processes, less expensive audits and smaller governments that do not have the ability to employ more accountants or accounting specialists are among the factors that increase the probability of reporting problems and inaccurate data.

Examines the effects of the outcome of an over‐budget audit on supervisors' perceptions of the auditor's performance.

Uses a cognitive model developed by Lipe. In a computer‐based experiment and an external audit context, professional auditors assumed the role of a supervisor evaluating a subordinate. Participants assessed the excess audit time in terms of perceived benefits to the firm and subsequently evaluated the job performance of the auditor.

The results provide partial support for Lipe's model, but differ in some respects. Interestingly, the effect of audit findings on the perceived benefit to the firm was not significant after considering experience in public accounting, but experience was not related to the actual performance evaluation. Instead, the audit outcome significantly affects the evaluation.

The level of benefit perceived from the audit was also associated with framing the audit time in terms of a “cost” or “loss”. Finally, as subjects tended toward framing the excess time as a “cost”, they evaluated the auditor more favorably.

Compared to external audit, internal audit has been charged with having no theory to guide academic research and practice. Suggests that the claims that internal audit has no theory have overlooked the theory of transaction cost economics. A variation of agency theory, transaction cost economics provides a conceptual framework for internal audit. Explains the theory that transaction cost economics provides for internal audit, and tests the theory with an experiment involving the usefulness of internal audit findings for senior executives in government organizations.

This paper aims to examine the perspectives of auditors, regulators and financial report preparers on the effects of key audit matters (KAMs) reporting on audit effort, fees, quality and report transparency.

The authors conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders (13 Audit Partners, 5 Chief Financial Officers and 3 regulators) and thematically analysed the interviews. They use the frame of “Paradox of Transparency” to explain the findings.

Auditors perceive that the overall quality control of their audits has improved both in the planning and execution stages, and such improvement can mostly be attributed to the coercive pressures from professional bodies and regulators. Nevertheless, audit fee remains unchanged. Auditors disclose industry generic items and descriptions of KAMs, sometimes masking the real problem areas of the clients. Even after improving the performative audit quality, transparency of audit reporting has not improved. Issues that warrant going concern qualifications or audit report modifications are now reported as KAMs. Hence, KAMs reporting might make the audit report less transparent.

Localised audit environments and institutions affect the transparency of KAMs reporting. Without attention to corporate governance and auditors’ independence issues, paradoxically, performative improvement in audit quality (due to the KAMs reporting requirement) does not enhance the transparency of audit reports.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to provide field-level evidence in Bangladesh and other developing countries about the perceptions of auditors, financial report preparers and regulators on the effects of KAMs reporting on audit efforts, fees, quality and report transparency.