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Unlike external auditing, to date, no study has been done to determine the internal auditors′ dysfunctional behaviour under time budget pressure. Consequently, determines the attitude of internal auditors towards time budgets, and the likely or perceived existence of time filtering practices in internal auditing. Presents survey results which indicate that a majority of respondents perceived time budgets as an interference with the proper conduct of the audit and conceded to a natural conflict between the essence of time budgets and the gathering of sufficient and competent evidence. The survey results further indicated the filtering of time to be a relatively widespread phenomenon in all areas of internal auditing.

Audit firms face a constant conflict between the business of auditing and the profession of auditing, which is manifested at audit senior level in the pressure to perform quality work within specified time limits. Prior quantitative studies have reported high levels of quality‐threatening behaviour (QTB) at senior level and the importance of examining contributory factors has been highlighted. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with audit seniors in four of the (then) Big Five firms and findings suggest that key variables (time pressure, participative target setting, and style of performance evaluation) have been inadequately operationalised in previous studies and that two distinct forms of QTB exist: deliberate and inadvertent. Propositions are developed for variables associated with both forms of QTB, which provide direction and focus for future research.

This paper aims to extend the literature on reduced audit quality practices (RAQPs) by examining the relationship between time budget pressure, auditors' personality types, and the incidence of two RAQPs – premature sign‐off of an audit step (PSO) and accepting a weak client explanation (WCE).

The aim of this paper is to collect data. A research instrument was developed and administered to audit practitioners in New Zealand using postal and web link methods. The research instrument included several hypothetical audit scenarios and Blumenthal's Type A Self‐Rating Inventory Scale (TASRI).

The paper finds that a significant relationship is present between time budget pressure and PSO only. Significant relationships are also found among auditors' personality types and the incidence of the two RAQPs. These results suggest that the audit environment is complex and that time budget pressure is only one of several explanations for the incidence of RAQPs.

The research instrument of this paper has not been used before in its entirety. This may raise issues of validity of the findings. Also, defining and measuring time budget pressure in terms of two categories (high/low) as opposed to a continuum may have implications on results reported in this study.

The paper provides results that show the importance of auditors' personality type in understanding more about the incidence of RAQPs.

The need to change budgeting has been frequently debated. Drawing on the literature on management accounting and budgeting change, this study aims to explore changes in budgeting and whether experienced success of budgeting varied with time and budget type. Changes in the use of the following budget types were investigated: fixed, revised, rolling, flexible and hybrid budgets.

This study uses a mixed research methodology. Survey data was collected from the same business units of large Finnish manufacturing firms in 2004 (Time 1) and 2016/2017 (Time 2) (N = 28). In addition, some of the respondents of the latter survey were interviewed in 2023 (Time 3).

Almost all business units were found to have remained loyal to budgeting. However, changes in budget types were not uncommon and varied considerably. Overall, the use of fixed budgets continued strongly, the use of revised and hybrid budgets declined, and the use of rolling budgets increased over time. Moreover, the joint use of budgets declined. The perceived success of budgetary processes was, initially, weakened by the use of fixed budgets and, later, by the use of revised budgets. The interview data further illustrates some of the patterns of, and reasons behind, the changes.

Longitudinal analysis of change in the same business units was useful in revealing the patterns of change in budgeting and on relationships between the variables analysed over time. Further research could be carried out using more extensive case studies in companies or sector-focused surveys longitudinally.

The aim of the research is to investigate, using a field survey, the concept of underreporting of time (URT), from both an individual and organisational perspective as a defence mechanism for coping with time budget pressure.

Big Four audit partners and seniors are interviewed regarding the factors that motivate staff auditors to engage in manipulation of time records and the consequences of the behaviour for individual auditors and audit firms.

Findings indicate that time record manipulation is not a single type of activity as suggested previously, but includes a variety of behaviours, six of which are identified in the study. Each of these constitutes a very different type of defence mechanism, motivated by different influences and resulting in different outcomes for the individual and the organisation. The firms engage in a defence mechanism characterised by a series of mixed messages to avoid dealing with inherent cost/quality conflicts and elements of this mechanism become embedded in routine activities at different levels in the firms.

The implications for audit firms vary with the type of time record manipulation and future research therefore needs to concentrate on a closer examination of the various practices that make up URT as identified in this study.

The insights provided by the research are used to explain apparently conflicting arguments in the literature and to set out implications for research and practice.

Prior literature provides little insight on how management control systems have responded to the growth of collaborative new product development (NPD). The purpose of this paper is to contrast the use of budgets to manage collaborative and in-house NPD and to consider the implications for enabling flexibility.

The paper reports on the findings of a case study company in the medical devices industry that uses two different business models for its NPD activities. While the company engages in in-house NPD for its own products, it also engages in collaborative NPD services with a range of customers.

The study illuminates how two types of budgets (annual and project) can have very different impacts on flexibility under different business models. The annual financial budgets imposed rigid constraints on in-house NPD and resulted in reduced flexibility, whereas in collaborative NPD, they had little impact on flexibility. Project budgets created hard operational constraints in collaborative NPD which generated a highly pressurised yet highly creative environment, whereas project budgets had little impact on flexibility in in-house NPD.

The study contributes detailed empirical insights into the control systems used to manage collaborative NPD from the supplier perspective, where creativity is largely responsive and contrasts these with the management of in-house NPD where creativity is largely expected. The authors also contribute an analysis of the key control systems and other factors that sustain flexibility in this highly pressurised open innovation environment.

Asset maintenance activities need to be prioritised as budget and planned outage time is often limited for all maintenance work to be carried out. The purpose of this paper is to develop a technique for prioritising maintenance work that maximises the return on investment under the constraints of budget and time.

Three indices are proposed to be used as indicators for prioritising maintenance. These indices are termed: maintenance investment index (MII), time index (TI) and budgetary index (BI). These indices permit prioritisation of asset maintenance based on the required emphasis on return on maintenance investment, time and budget respectively.

It is found that approaches to prioritising maintenance which integrate the critical dimensions in the decision making process are lacking in the literature. There is a need for such an approach to assist decision makers to ensure enterprise's objectives and targets are maximised with given budget and planned shutdown time.

The proposed techniques will assist engineers and mangers to develop their maintenance plan according to the enterprise needs and constraints and allowing management to make a better informed decision in maintenance.

This paper provides a new technique for ranking maintenance that maximises return on investment.

This paper aims to propose and examine a pragmatic approach to minimizing auditors’ underreporting of time. Specifically, the study examines the effects of time budget pressure (TBP) and reported time use policy (RTUP) on time underreporting.

This paper uses a 2 × 2 between experimental design. The participants are 130 undergraduate accounting students and they completed a ratio-based task. The online experiment manipulated TBP and a RTUP.

This study shows a RTUP reduces time underreporting, especially when TBP is high.

This study is useful to audit firms because it provides a feasible solution to minimizing time underreporting.

Studies show that firm culture affects the dysfunctional behavior of time underreporting. Consequently, this study recommends that firms influence the culture around time reporting through an upfront communication of a use policy.

Studies on time underreporting exist, but formal studies on solutions to the issue are sparse. The authors propose a solution to the issue of time underreporting, which is a RTUP.

A survey is here systematically conducted to analyse auditors’ perceptions of dysfunctional auditing behaviour (DAB). As a result of many accounting scandals and litigations faced by audit firms, this paper aims to assess whether factors leading to DAB are embedded in audit firms’ practices.

The sample used in this study comprises auditors at all levels of employment with the big four audit firms in the United Kingdom (UK). DAB is analysed using two signals/indicators: premature sign-off and under-reporting of chargeable time. Time budget pressure and time deadline pressure are the factors considered here as potentially pushing auditors to exhibit DAB. A careful and considered analysis and interpretation is here articulated. Additionally, the sample individuals are divided into audit trainees and experienced auditors to assess any potential differences in the perception of DAB that reflect the experience factor.

Coordination with internal auditors, different perceptions between audit trainees and experienced auditors of dysfunctional behaviour, working during their personal time and the box-ticking exercise are amongst the findings that may help practitioners to understand the reasons behind dysfunctional behaviour and identify measures to mitigate it.

The study can aid concerned executives and audit partners to minimise DAB related to different time pressures by casting light on the key ethical issues. The study is conducted on a sample of the big four firms in the UK covering all organisational structure. It assesses if experience plays a role in the perception of DAB.

The federal budgeting process is wrought with conflict that makes it nearly impossible for the budget to be passed on time, or so it seems. One aspect overlooked is the effects of statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rules. The cursory evidence indicates PAYGO may be beneficial under certain circumstances. The analysis relies on an Autoregressive-Moving-Average (ARMA) time series model with data from appropriations bills signed into law from fiscal years 1994 to 2014. The findings indicate mixed effects for PAYGO statutes with a shorter budgeting timeline under the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, but a longer timeline under the Statutory PAYGO Act of 2010. Additional findings suggest substantive relationships between the length of the budgeting process and party polarization, presidential leadership, and the economy.