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Financial statement fraud has become a global concern, and auditors are increasingly focused on identifying and investigating it. Auditors may play a crucial role in investigating and reducing financial statement fraud, and this is particularly important in developing countries where fraudulent practices are more prevalent due to the lack of strict regulations and oversight. This study investigates whether enhanced audit quality has an impact on reducing financial statement fraud. The primary aim is to recognize whether a higher level of audit quality relates with a decrease in fraudulent activities in Indonesia, which is one such country that has not yet adopted IFRS.

This study investigates the effect of audit quality, as measured by audit tenure, audit fee, and audit size, on the dependent variable of financial statement fraud, as indicated by Dechow F-value. The sample for this study comprises 951 observations from 2015 to 2020, and the research design utilizes a panel data approach. To test the main hypothesis, OLS, and GMM estimation techniques are employed.

The analyses reveal a negative relationship between audit tenure and financial statement fraud. This suggests that shorter audit tenure may be associated with an increased risk of financial statement fraud. This heightened risk could stem from auditors having limited time to thoroughly understand the company's operations and internal controls, potentially making it more challenging to detect and prevent fraudulent activities perpetrated by the client. Conversely, a positive relationship is identified between audit fees and financial statement fraud, suggesting that companies paying higher fees may be engaging auditors less adept at detecting fraudulent activities. Furthermore, a negative relationship is observed between Big-5 and financial statement fraud, which may be due to the greater resources, expertise, quality control, scrutiny, reputation, and ethical conduct of Big-5 audit companies.

This study only focused on listed companies in Indonesia, therefore, caution should be exercised when generalizing the findings to other developing and Muslim countries such as Malaysia. The findings may differ due to the adoption of IFRS in Malaysia. As such, it is important for future studies to include Malaysia as a sample and compare the results with those of Indonesia. This comparison would demonstrate the impact of IFRS adoption on the relationship between audit quality and financial statement fraud and provide insights for policy makers in Indonesia.

The findings of this study have important implications for developing countries that have been shown to be more susceptible to fraud than developed countries. This study contributes to the existing research on the role of audit quality in reducing financial statement fraud and emphasizes the need for auditors and accountants to take a proactive approach in detecting and investigating financial fraud.

This study is a new study because it investigates the relationship between audit quality and financial statement fraud in Indonesia, a developing Muslim country that has not yet adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The study provides valuable evidence on the unique factors that influence fraud in Indonesia and fills a gap in the literature as previous studies on this topic have largely focused on developed countries. Additionally, the study recommends that policymakers in Indonesia consider implementing IFRS to improve the reliability of financial reporting and strengthen the effectiveness of the auditing process, thus reducing the incidence of fraud.

To audit all the clinical audits conducted by the anaesthetic department at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, from August 2004 to July 2005 against recommendations published in the paper “Improving the reporting of clinical audits in the NHS”.

The standards used were a central system of recording ongoing and completed projects, adequate methodological details with each audit, action plan with each audit, follow‐up of action plan and closing the loop for each audit.

A problem was identified regarding unfinished projects when trainees move on to other hospitals. Changes have been made to solve that problem.

Only audits from one department were audited. If all the audits from the whole hospital are examined, more problems with reporting audits may be found.

A structured audit programme driven by local issues has enabled the study department's services to improve continuously.

This paper tries to show the usefulness of audits in bringing improvements to the NHS.

Audit committees have a relatively long history dating back to the nineteenth century. It is only in recent years that their use has been popularized again in the private sector. Fundamentally, it is often argued that audit committees exist to mediate between executive directors and auditors while providing an overall enhancement of corporate accountability. One of the recent effects of the drive to incorporate business methods into other sectors has been the establishment of audit committees. It does, however, pose the question of the role of these committees which are operating in a different context from their origins. Looks at the operation of audit committees in a defined sector, namely universities. Using a postal questionnaire, all directors of finance (or equivalent) in UK universities were surveyed to establish whether or not audit committees existed in their institutions, the purpose being to determine the extent of audit committees, the reasons why they have or have not been established, and the advantages and problems encountered with them. One interesting result that arose with implications for accountability and governance was that in universities the stewardship and strategic policy‐making functions are generally separate and that audit committees report only on the former. This is in contrast to the situation in the private sector where both functions are generally combined in the activities of the board of directors. Because there is considerable overlap between the membership of audit committees and the boards of directors, it could be argued that this provides the potential for a greater degree of accountability and governance than currently exists in universities.

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.

Total Quality Management (TQM) will have major implications for the internal audit function. Argues that TQM concepts, such as people empowerment, are incompatible with traditional notions of compliance with prescribed internal controls, policies and procedures. Suggests that the fundamental principles which govern the practice of internal audit are incompatible with TQM environments. Examines a number of scenarios to assess the impact of TQM on the internal audit function. These issues may offer a basis for the conduct of further research.

An increasing number of earnings restatements along with many allegations of financial statement fraud committed by high profile companies (e.g. Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Adelphia) has eroded the public confidence in corporate governance, the financial reporting process, and audit functions. The Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002 was an attempt to regain confidence and trust in corporate America and the accounting profession. The Act addresses corporate scandals and the perceived crisis in the auditing profession. Some of its provisions relate to the audit committee oversight function over corporate governance, financial reporting, internal control structure, internal audit functions, and external audit services. This study examines three types of audit committee disclosures: the annual report of the audit committee; reporting of the audit committee charter in the proxy statement at least once every three years; and disclosure in the proxy statement of whether the audit committee had fulfilled its responsibilities as specified in the charter. This study conducts a content analysis on audit committee disclosures of Fortune 100 companies.

The efficiency audit programme of the Australian Audit Office, which began officially in 1979, was the first substantial move towards performance auditing in Australia. The history of that programme is outlined in support of an argument that the nature and purpose of public‐sector performance audit have not been fully settled. Far from being an established discipline, performance audit is still evolving. This evolution is a contested process in which auditors, the agencies they audit and the Parliaments they report to, dispute such basic questions as why, what and how performance should be audited, and by whom. It is argued that successive Australian Auditors‐General have had a large personal influence on the development of performance audit at the federal level in their country. These arguments take on new relevance with recent and very ambitious proposals for reform of the Australian Audit Office that bear marked similarities to those advanced when efficiency audit was first proposed in the mid‐1970s.

Clinical audit may undergo organisational change as the new primary care trusts assume responsibility for community health services. Very little has been published, however, about community‐based audit. A survey of audit activities involving clinical audit staff was carried out in seven acute hospital trusts and seven community trusts in south east England in 1997. Audit staff completed survey forms for 65 acute projects and 75 community projects on defined topics. Managers in community trusts were much more likely to initiate audit projects or act as lead investigators than managers in the acute trusts, and they more frequently received copies of project reports. Clinical audit staff in community trusts participated more fully in the various phases of the audit process than staff in the acute trusts. If the best of the conventions for community audit practice are transferred to primary care trusts, the foundations of their clinical governance programmes should be strengthened.

Attempts to determine the extent to which auditing is being taught as part of accounting degrees and, where it is, to discover the nature and content of the courses. A survey of university and polytechnic lecturers shows there is little agreement about the nature and content of an auditing class. Courses are dominated by external audit, perhaps reflecting the professional backgrounds of those who teach them. Lecturers feel that they are working in isolation and are keen to have a forum at which to exchange ideas.

This paper seeks to discuss the effect that the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (SOA) had on both the nature of the external audit function and overall audit quality. Additionally, it aims to discuss how audit firms maneuvered through the newly regulated environment, and what their strategic actions are for the future.

This discussion is based on interviews conducted with auditors from nine public accounting firms located in Northeast Ohio, United States of America. The sample consisted of five national and four regional firms, and the interviewees included mostly partners and a few senior managers.

The increased oversight and workload resulting from the SOA requirements has changed the nature of the external audit function to more compliance type work, and the environment has created much anxiety for the auditors. The new reform has significantly impacted the audit environment in terms of: scope of services; client assessment procedures; management and audit committee relationships with the external auditor; audit firm personnel management; and the long‐term outlook of the profession. The details of these impacts are discussed throughout the paper.

This paper provides detailed insight as to how the SOA impacted the audit profession. Hopefully, such an understanding will benefit future research in measuring the costs and benefits of the new reform. Lastly, a future research showed further examine the effect that the SOA has had on overall audit quality.

This paper summarizes the insightful comments obtained in structured interviews with several leading audit professionals. The sample was judged to be highly knowledgeable of the changing audit environment caused by the SOA. With an improved understanding of its impacts, regulators, practitioners, and academics can better assess the effectiveness of the SOA.