Earticle

내부통제는 자체적으로 위험을 예방 및 적발할 수 있는 수단으로 중요성이 강화되고 있다. 현재 정부부처 및 지자체는 내부통제가 운영되고 있으나 취약점이 존재할 수 있어 내부통제 강화 방안 마련이 필요하다. 본 연구는 회계분야 감사사례를 내부통제 관점에서 분석하고, 주요 사례를 심층분석하여 내부통제의 취약점을 검토하고 시사점을 제시하고자 한다. 감사원 감사결과 비위유형이 회계분야인 사례를 대상으로 분석한 결과, 대상 영역별로는 예산관리집행, 보조금, 계약관리 등 선행연구에서 반복적으로 지적되는 비위 유형이 여전히 유사하게 지적되었다. 내부통제 활동 측면에서는 예방 및 적발, 관리･감독 등 전반적인 활동에서 고르게 제대로 작동하지 못한 것으로 나타났으며 지적사항은 내부통제의 한 부분만이 아닌 여러 부분에서의 통제가 미흡하여 발생하는 것으로 나타났다. 자주 지적되고 있는 보조금과 계약 업무를 대상으로 심층분석을 실시한 결과, 보조금 관련 문제는 보조사업자 선정시 권한부여 및 승인 측면에서의 부실이 다수 발생하며, 보조금 집행･정산시에는 검증 및 대사의 통제활동이 제대로 운영되지 않는 등의 문제가 발생했다. 계약의 경우 계약체결 단계에서는 업무담당자의 부정･부당한 업무로 권한 부여 및 승인에서의 문제가 자주 나타났고, 계약수행 단계에서는 검증 및 대사에서의 문제 등이 발생했다. 이에 각 부처 및 지자체별 특징에 따라 내부통제 시스템이 구축될 수 있도록 운영방안을 마련할 필요가 있다. 또한 단계별 업무담당자 각자가 업무에 대한 책임을 부여할 수 있는 방안을 마련하고, 기관별 감사기구의 독립성 및 전문성을 확보하여 강화할 수 있는 방안에 대한 검토가 필요하다.

Internal control systems are essential for preventing and detecting operational risks in the public sector. Although such systems are formally implemented across central and local governments, structural weaknesses remain. This study investigates financial audit cases from the perspective of internal control to identify key vulnerabilities and derive policy implications for system enhancement. An analysis of financial audit cases conducted by the Board of Audit and Inspection revealed that recurring misconduct types—such as budget execution, subsidy mismanagement, and contract administration—remain prevalent across functional areas, consistent with findings from prior studies. From the perspective of internal control activities, deficiencies were observed not only in preventive and detective controls but also in oversight functions, indicating systemic failures. The audit findings suggest that such weaknesses arise not from isolated control breakdowns but from inadequacies across multiple components of the internal control system. An in-depth analysis of frequently cited issues within subsidy and contract operations revealed that subsidy-related problems predominantly stem from inadequate authorization and approval processes during the selection of subsidy recipients. Furthermore, during the execution and settlement phases of the subsidies, essential control activities such as verification and reconciliation frequently fail to operate effectively. Accordingly, there is a need to develop operational strategies that allow internal control systems to be tailored to the specific characteristics of each ministry and local government. It is also essential to establish mechanisms that assign clear responsibility to individual officials at each stage of the administrative process. Furthermore, strengthening the independence and professional capacity of internal audit units within institutions should be considered as a critical component of internal control reform.

국가의 재정지원을 받는 공공기관을 둘러싼 이해관계자 범위는 일반 민간기업에 비해 더 넓고, 국민 전체로까지 광범위하다고 볼 수 있어 이들의 재무제표는 민간기업의 그것에 비해 높은 신뢰성을 담보하여야 한다. 그리고 이들 재무제표를 감사하는 외부 회계감사인 역시 높은 수준의 품질을 가지는 감사업무를 수행하여 해당 공공기관의 재무제표의 신뢰성을 높여야 한다. 본 연구는 현행 공공기관 회계감사를 둘러싼 제도를 검토하고, 감사원 결산 검사상에 지적 사례를 분석한 후 공공기관 회계감사 품질 제고를 위한 개선 방안을 제시하였다. 본 연구에서 제시하는 개선방안은 다음과 같다. 우선 감사원 지적 사항의 상당수가 수탁사업 등 공공부문의 특수한 영역에서 발견됨을 고려하여 공공부문 감사절차 체크리스트의 제정이 필요하다. 둘째, 공공기관의 예산, 회계 및 감사에 관한 전문교육을 이수한 자만이 공공기관 회계감사를 수행할 수 있도록 회계감사인에 대한 자격 제한을 검토할 필요가 있다. 셋째, 현재 공공기관 회계감사의 중요성 기준 적용 실태를 조사하고, 중요성 기준의 강화가 필요하다면 이에 대한 가이드라인을 제시하는 것이 요구된다. 넷째, 공공기관의 감사전 재무제표 제출기한을 명시하여 공공기관의 재무제표 작성 책임성을 높이고, 회계감사인의 감사 시간을 충분히 확보하도록 하는 조치가 필요하다. 다섯째, 회계감사인의 감사시간을 공시하도록 하여 회계감사인의 감사 시간 적정 여부를 평가하고 회계감사 품질 제고를 위한 방향을 모색하는 여건을 조성하도록 해야 한다. 여섯째, 공공기관 회계감사시 적용되는 감사기준을 명확히 하여 공공기관 회계감사에 대한 환기를 일으킬 필요도 있다. 기존 연구가 공공기관 회계정보의 신뢰성 또는 민간기업을 대상으로 한 감사품질 결정요인에 초점을 맞추었다면, 본 연구는 현행 공공기관 회계감사 제도를 검토하고, 감사원 결산검사 지적사례를 유형화하여 분석함으로써 공공기관 회계감사 품질 제고 방안을 모색하였다는 점에서 차별성을 가진다. 나아가 제도 설계 차원의 개선방안을 제시한다는 점에서 정책적 함의를 제공한다.

Public institutions that receive fiscal support from the government are subject to a broader range of stakeholders than ordinary private firms, extending to the general public as a whole. Accordingly, their financial statements—reflecting financial position and operating performance—should be ensured a higher level of reliability than those of private firms. External auditors who audit these financial statements are likewise required to perform high-quality audit services in order to enhance the credibility of the financial reporting of public institutions. This study examines the current institutional framework surrounding the audit of public institutions, analyzes cases identified in the Board of Audit and Inspection’s settlement inspection, and proposes measures to enhance the quality of audits of public institutions. The improvement measures suggested in this study are as follows. First, considering that a substantial portion of the issues identified by the Board of Audit and Inspection arise from public-sector-specific areas such as entrusted projects, it is necessary to establish a checklist of audit procedures tailored to the public sector. Second, restrictions on auditor qualifications should be considered so that only those who have completed specialized education in public institution budgeting, accounting, and auditing may conduct audits of public institutions. Third, it is necessary to examine the current application of materiality thresholds in audits of public institutions and, where appropriate, to provide guidelines for strengthening materiality standards. Fourth, the deadline for submission of pre-audit financial statements by public institutions should be clearly specified in order to enhance management responsibility for financial statement preparation and to secure sufficient audit time for external auditors. Fifth, the disclosure of audit hours should be required so as to enable evaluation of the adequacy of audit effort and to create conditions conducive to improving audit quality. Sixth, the auditing standards applicable to audits of public institutions should be clarified to raise awareness of the distinct nature of such audits. While prior studies have focused on the reliability of accounting information of public institutions or on determinants of audit quality in private firms, this study differentiates itself by examining the current institutional framework of public institution audits and by categorizing and analyzing cases identified in the Board of Audit and Inspection’s settlement inspections to assess whether public-sector characteristics are adequately reflected in the auditing standards framework. Furthermore, by proposing improvements at the level of institutional design, this study provides policy implications.

본 연구는 지방자치단체의 회계부정유형을 도출하고 이러한 회계부정을 방지하기 위해서 회계제도, 회계시스템 및 감사분야의 개선방안을 모색하였다. 과거 지방자치단체의 회계부정유형은 부당한 예산편성, 회계간의 부당한 거래 및 분식결산을 통해 회계부정을 단행하여 왔으나 최근에는 예산의 정부 통제가 강화됨에 따라 지방공기업을 활용하여 무리한 사업을 추진하고 좀 더 나가 민간 사업자를 활용해 보증채무까지 부담하는 유형으로 발전됨을 분석하였다. 개선방안으로는 첫째, 지방공기업을 포함한 지방자치단체의 통합 재무보고서에 연결재무보고서를 도입할 필요가 있다. 현재 행정안전부에서, 지역통합재정통계를 통해서 지방자치단체의 통합회계와 지방공기업을 포함해서 포괄적 부채를 보고하고 있으나, 지역통합재정통계에 포함된 재무보고서의 신뢰성에 의문이 제기되고 있으며, 지방자치단체 재무보고서 작성기준을 지방자치단체가 실질적으로 지배하는 지방공기업을 포함하는 연결재무보고서 기준으로 변경할 필요가 있다. 둘째, 지방재정시스템의 고도화가 필요하다. 많은 기능들이 시스템은 구현되어 있으나 사용되지 않고 있으며, 결산은 수작업으로 입력하는 수준에 있다. 이는 자주 바뀌는 업무의 특성, 담당자의 인식부족, 법규 미비 등으로 수작업 처리가 발생되어 전산 상으로 감사추적(Audit Trail)을 어렵게 하고 있다. 셋째, 현재 지방자치단체 및 지방공기업의 감사제도 개선이 필요하다. 결산감사제도와 자체감사기구제도 개선을 통합적인 관점에서 접근해야 하며 법률제정을 통하여 감사위원장과 감사위원의 독립성을 강화해야 한다. 지방자치단체의 재무보고서에 대한 현행 검토수준을 감사수준으로 격상하는 문제는 지방자치단체만 아니라 지방공기업을 포함한 통합적인 방식으로 접근할 필요가 있다. 지방자치단체 및 지방공기업에서 선정하는 외부감사인 선임제도는 독립성을 저해할 수 있으므로 행정안전부에서 외부감사인을 지정하는 지정감사제로 변경할 필요가 있으며, 감사품질 하락을 방지하기 위해서는 규모별,업종별 표준감사시간을 제정할 필요가 있다.

The purpose of this study is to find ways to improve the accounting system, financial information system and audit system in order to derive the types of accounting fraud in local governments and to prevent such accounting fraud. In the past, the types of accounting fraud in local governments have been done through illegal budget formation, unfair transactions between accounts, and window dressing settlement of accounts. Recently, however, since government control of the budget has been strengthened, it is analyzed that it develops into the type that it uses the local public corporation to promote unreasonable business and to pay the guarantee debt even more by utilizing the private business operator. First to improve, it is necessary to introduce consolidated accounting in the consolidated financial report of local governments including local public corporations. Currently, comprehensive liabilities are reported including the integrated accounting of local governments and local public corporations through regional integrated debt statistics. However, since the credibility of financial reports included in regional integrated financial statistics is questioned, it is necessary to change the standard for preparing consolidated financial reports to the consolidated financial report including the local public corporations which the local governments actually control. Second, the local financial system needs to be upgraded. Many functions are implemented in the system but not used, and the settlement is at the level of manual input. This is due to the frequent changes in the nature of work, lack of awareness of the person in charge, and inadequate laws, which makes it difficult to trace an audit trail with data reliability. Third, the audit system of local governments and local public enterprises needs to be improved. The independence of the audit committee chair and the audit committee should be strengthened through the enactment of legislation in an integrated manner to improve the financial and auditing system. The problem of raising the current level of review of local government 's financial reports to the level of auditing needs to be approached from an integrated approach including local government as well as local public corporations. Since the appointment system for external auditors selected by local governments and local public corporations may interfere with independence, it is necessary to change the designated auditor designated by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security. In order to prevent audit quality deterioration, it is necessary to establish standard audit times for each size and industry.

본 연구는 감사품질이 비영리법인인 자선단체의 기부금에 미치는 영향을 분석하고 있다. 실증분석 결과에 의하면 재무정보의 강제공시와 높은 수준의 감사품질은 자선단체의 기부금과 양(+)의 관계를 가지는 것으로 나타났으며, 또한, 대 형 4개 회계감사법인이 감사업무를 맡은 자선단체는 그렇지 않은 자선단체에 비해 더 많은 기부금을 받을 가능성이 높은 것으로 나타났다. 이와 같은 양(+)의 관계는 규모가 작은 자선단체에서 더욱 유의한 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구에서의 분석 결과는 재무정보의 공시 및 수준 높은 외부감사를 통한 자선단체 재무보고의 투명성 제고가 기부금 증가에 매우 중요한 역할을 하고 있음을 시사하고 있음을 알 수 있다.

In this study, we investigate the effects of disclosure and high-quality audit on donations to charitable organizations in Korea. We find that the mandatory disclosure of financial information and high-quality audit is significantly and positively related to donations to charitable organizations. We also find that charitable organizations audited by Big 4 audit firms have greater likelihood to receive more donations, compared to those audited by non-Big 4 audit firms. Furthermore, we find that those positive associations are more pronounced for smaller charitable organizations. Collectively, those results imply that, as in the profit-making sector, disclosure and high-quality audit play a critical role in enhancing accountability and transparency of financial reporting and revenue for charitable organizations.

Management is responsible for fair presentation of financial reporting, but often commits intentional misrepresentations or deceptions due to certain environmental, institutional, or personal desire. Fraudulent financial reporting detriments not only those involved but the stability of the nation's economy, leading to shake up or even collapse of the securities market. The board of directors delegates responsibilities for overseeing and monitoring financial reporting process to the audit committee which, in turn, helps the board discharge its duties effectively by providing accounting information. But for the committee to perform its perceived responsibilities well, it must be composed of truly independent members. The inclusion of "grey area" members to the committee may compromise its independence and ,thereby, reduces effectiveness of the audit committee as a monitoring mechanism for management actions. In addition, duties of the committee along with membership requirement, terms of office, frequency and timing of meeting must be spelled out in the charter.

본 연구는 지방자치단체의 재무제표에 대한 단계적 감사도입방안을 제시하고, 그 실효성을 제고하기 위한 제도적 장치의 설정방향을 제안하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 지방자치단체의 복식부기ㆍ발생주의 회계제도는 몇 년간의 시범운영을 통해 2007년부터 의무적으로 시행되며, 공인회계사의 검토 또한 받도록 되어있다. 그러나 지방자치단체의 재무회계 결산업무수행수준 및 지방자치단체감사의 전문성을 확보한 감사인의 수 등을 고려할 때, 검토도입시기를 유보하고 합의된 절차수행방식에 의한 재무보고서 작성(확인)지원을 하는 것이 바람직하다고 판단된다. 그러나 이는 과도기적인 대안으로 지방자치단체가 재무제표의 작성능력을 갖춘 후에는 현행 법률과 같이 공인회계사의 검토를 받는 2단계 방안을 도입하고, 마지막 3단계로 감사를 받는 방안을 제시한다. 아울러 감사의 실효성을 확보하기 위한 기타 제도적 장치로 감사인 전문성을 확보하기 위해 공인회계사시험제도에 정부회계내용을 추가하는 것과 지방자치단체의 감사를 수행하기 위해서는 일정시간 이상의 정부회계관련 CPE과목이수를 강제하는 방안을 제시한다. 그리고 감사수임방법으로는 독립성 확보차원에서 지방자치단체가 아닌 행정자치부 또는 독립위원회에서 감사인을 지정하는 방식을 제안하나, 감사의 질의 제고하기 위하여 자율경쟁방식을 통해 지정하도록 하는 방안을 제안한다. 또한 자발적인 감사수요가 낮은 지방자치단체의 사정을 고려할 때 부실감사와 덤핑사례를 방지하기 위해 적정 감사보수에 대한 가이드라인을 제시하는 방안을 제안한다. 마지막으로 행정자치부가 한국공인회계사회에 위임하는 방식으로 사후적인 감리제도를 도입할 것을 제안한다.

The purpose of our research is to propose stepwise implementation plans for local governments' financial statements audit and arrangements of related environmental structures to increase the effectiveness of financial audit. Starting fiscal year 2007 after a few years of tentative operation, local governments' financial statements should be prepared based on double entry bookkeeping and accrual bases. And the statements should be audited or reviewed by public accountants. But considering the quality of local governments' financial accounting book closing and number of qualified professional auditors of local governments, it is improper to introduce financial statements review(audit). Instead we propose introduction of accountants' financial statements preparation(assurance) based on agreed-upon procedures. But it is surely a temporary alternative until local governments obtain a financial statements preparation capability. After that financial statements review or audit of public accountants should be executed. In addition, to increase the effectiveness of audits, we suggest several immediate structural modifications related to local government financial statements audits. First, knowledge of governmental accounting be tested at CPA exam. Second, governmental accounting be included into CPA' s CPE programs mandatorily. Regarding audit appointment, to secure auditors' independence, we propose independent institutions such as Ministry of Public Administration and Security(MPAS) or audit committee would appoint auditors instead of local governments. But to ensure audit quality we encourage voluntary competitions among auditors. Last but least audit fee should be appropriate to prevent audit failure. Appropriate audit fee can be possible by announcing an official audit fee guidelines by authoritative institutions. Lastly regarding supervision procedure, we propose MPAS delegate all rights to KICPA.

본 연구는 감사위험에 대한 감사인의 반응에 대해 분석한 논문이다. 구체적으로 감사위험은 당기 재무제표의 수정금액으 로 측정하였고, 감사인의 반응은 차기 감사시간의 증감률로 측정하였다. 회사의 재무제표 작성능력이 부족하거나 이익조정 금액이 클수록 감사인의 수정금액도 커질 것이기 때문에 수정금액을 감사인이 인식한 회사의 감사위험으로 볼 수 있으며, 감사인은 감사 계획 시 감사위험을 고려할 것이기 때문에 차기 감사시간의 증감률로 감사인의 반응을 측정하였다. 한편 감사위험에 대한 감사인 의 반응은 직급에 따라 다를 것이다. 회계감사는 품질관리검토자, 업무수행이사, 그리고 등록공인회계사 등이 팀을 이뤄 수행하지 만 감사계획을 수립하고 감사품질을 관리하는 감사인이 현장에서 감사실무를 수행하는 감사인보다 감사위험에 대해 보다 민감하 게 반응할 것으로 예상된다. 분석결과, 당기 재무제표의 수정금액이 일정수준 이상으로 크면 감사인은 이를 유의한 감사위험으로 인식하여 차기의 감사투입시간을 증가시키며, 이는 주로 리더 역할을 담당하는 감사인들에 의해 발생한다는 사실을 발견하였다.

This study is an analysis of auditor's response to audit risk. Specifically, audit risk is measured by the amount of correction of the current financial statements, and auditor's response is measured by the rate of change of audit hour in next auditing. The amount of correction can be viewed as audit risk recognized by auditor because the degree of auditor's correction will increase as the company's financial statement preparation ability is lower or the profit management amount is larger. Auditor's response is measured as the rate of change of audit hour because audit risk would be incorporated in audit plan. Although auditing is performed by a team, auditor's response would differ depending on their roles. It is expected the leaders who establish the audit plan and manage the audit quality would respond more sensitively to audit risk than the other auditors. The results show that when the amount of correction is greater than a certain level, auditors recognize it as audit risk and increase total(and leaders’) audit hour in next year audit.

Historically, Korean companies have used Generally Accepted Accounting Principles(GAAP) as a common standard to report on their financial status. This accounting standards have also played a critical role in the drafting of legal instruments. However, many countries have adopted and now require the use of international financial reporting standards(IFRS). This newly accepted standard is the development of a single set of high-quality international accounting standards that are transparent, understandable, and enforceable, and that are rigorously applied. With regard to adopt new accounting reporting standard, External Audit of Stock Companies Act(EASCA) was amended in 2009 and this amendment is evaluated to set up a basis to accept IFRS. EASCA abolishes conglomerate combined financial statements and mandates companies that fall into article 1-2 to use consolidated financial statements. And it amends to set high from the total assets of which is over seven billion won to ten billon be subject to an accounting audit performed by an external auditor. It also gives an external audit to cancel of a audit contract with some conditions. However, this amendment is still criticized because it didn't consider external auditor's indecency specially on the part of it's election and compensation. The election and compensation power for external auditor should be in the hand of the audit committee, not the director. It also didn't take into account to external auditor's limitation of civil liability.

감사위원회 및 내부회계관리제도는 기업의 경영투명성을 높이기 위한 방안으로 도입되었다. 특히 회계투명성 제고를 위해 도입된 장치라 할 수 있다. 이와 관련된 선행연구들은 이 두 제도가 회계투명성 제고에 긍정적 역할을 한 다는 결과 및 형식적 운영이라는 부정적 결과로 나뉘어져 있다. 본 연구의 목적은 내부통제가 재무제표 작성에 얼마나 효과적인가를 분석함으로써 신뢰성 있는 재무보고에 기여하는 가를 조사하는데 있다. 따라서 본 연구는 국내 유가증권시장 및 코스닥시장을 대상으로 기업의 내부통제에 대해 의견교환을 할 수 있는 감사위원회의 특성과 이에 대한 외부감사인의 검토의견이 과거의 회계오류를 발견하고 보고할 재무제표 재작성에 관한 실증적 증거를 제시하는데 있다. 이를 위하여 본 연구는 감사위원회 및 내부회계관리제도 도입 이후 3년간(2005년 ~ 2007년)의 자료를 활용하여 변인 교차분석과 다변량 로짓분석을 사용하여 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 내부회계관리제도와 감사위원회 특성(독립성, 전문성, 활동성) 중에서는 전문성, 활동성, 그리고 중요한 취약점이 관련이 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 국내외 선행연구들과 비교해 볼 때 감사위원회와 내부회계관리제도의 도입으로는 신뢰성 있는 회계정보의 제공이라는 소기의 성과를 달성 할 수 없고 제도의 효과적인 운영과 실질적인 역할 부여가 더욱 중요하다는 점을 시사한다. 하지만 본 연구는 감사위원회의 특성과 중요한 취약점 변수와 재무적인 변수만이 포함되어 있고, 비재무적 변수들을 고려하지 않았다는 변수 생략의 문제와 변수들의 조작적 정의에 의한 측정오차의 문제등의 한계점에도 불구하고 내부통제기구 특성이나 의견에 대한 효과를 실증적으로 분석한 점은 제도 개선이나 관련연구 활성화에 기여할 것으로 판단된다.

An audit committee and internal control system have been introduced to enhance management transparency and reliable financial reporting. The prior studies concerning the effectiveness of the audit committee and internal control system have reported contraditory results. The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate into whether the audit committee and internal control system recently introduced to Korean firms effectively carries out its monitoring role in the financial reporting. Multi-variate logit models have been established for this study. whether the introduction of the internal control system is introduced or not and the characteristics of audit committee, independence, proficiency, and activities level are included in the model as independent variables. This study finds that there has been significant relationship between intenal control system material weakness and financial reporting restatement, but independence of audit committee not tend to contribute to deter occurrence of accounting errors. This study implies that the reasonable implementation of an audit committee, not simply an introduction of it, is more important for reliable financial reporting.

비상장 외부감사대상법인의 회계적환손익과 경영성과와의 관계를 분석하였다. 분석결과 회계적환손익은 경영성과와 양(+)의 관계가 있음을 확인할 수 있었다. 이러한 결과는 회계적 환손익의 규모가 기업의 경영성과에 직접적인 영향을 미칠 수 있을 정도로 큰 규모이며, 기업이 이를 적절하게 관리하지 못하고 있음을 보여주는 것이다. 기업을 중소기업과 대기업으로 나누어 분석한 결과, 대기업보다 중소기업에서 회계적환손익과 경영성과 간 관련성이 더 높게 나타남을 확인할 수 있었다. 이러한 결과는 외감법인의 환위험관리 필요성이 대기업보다 중소기업에서 더 심각할 수 있음을 나타내는 것이다. 금융위기를 기준으로 기간을 나누어 환손익과 경영성과 간의 관계를 비교한 결과는 두 기간에 유의적인 차이가 없어 글로벌 금융위기 이후에도 기업의 환위험관리 문제는 완화되지 않고 있음을 확인시켜 주었다. 이 연구의 결과 는 중소기업이 환위험관리를 위해 더 많은 노력을 기울일 필요가 있음을 지지하고 있다.

This paper investigates the effect of foreign currency related loss/gain on financial reports(hereafter accounting exposure) on firm performance of a firms under external audit. Test result shows that accounting exposure of a firm affects its performance. It indicates that the amount of a firm’s accounting exposure is large enough to affect the firm’s performance and that the firm fails to manage the accounting exposure effectively. We also analyze the difference of a firm’s accounting exposure effect on the firm performance by firm size. Our test result shows that firm performance is more sensitive to accounting exposure in small-medium sized firms than large sized firms. This result can be interpreted as the management of accounting exposure is more demanding for small-medium sized firms. This paper also tests how differently accounting exposures affect firm performance before and after the global financial crisis in 2008. Test result shows that the effect of accounting exposure on firm performance is not alleviated even after the global financial crisis. The findings of this paper suggest that small-medium sized firms are asked to manage their accounting exposures more effectively.

Purpose: The aims of this study are to investigate the joint effects of financial experts on audit committees (ACs) and industry expert auditors on earnings quality, and to investigate whether the joint effects differ based on subtypes of financial experts on ACs and the mixture of those subtypes. Design/methodology/approach: This study measures AC f inancial expertise and auditor industrial expertise using indicator variables. To measure the quality of earnings, this study employs the approach of Kothari et al. (2005). Findings: The study finds evidence that only the interaction between AC financial expertise and auditor industrial expertise has a positive effect on earnings quality. Specifically, earnings quality improves only when firms have accounting professors or finance experts (excluding finance professors) on ACs, and at the same time, when firms receive external audit from an industry specialist auditor. The study also finds that the positive association becomes obvious when ACs have both accounting and non-accounting experts. More importantly, the positive association is stronger when ACs have both non-accounting experts and more than one type of accounting experts. These results suggest that it is crucial that internal and external audit functions work cooperatively rather than separately, and that ACs include both non-accounting experts and several types of accounting experts. Research limitations/implications: The effects of AC financial expertise on accounting information quality may vary depending on how ACs are actually operated. Thus, it would be worthwhile for future research to explore the effectiveness of ACs in consideration of the operation of ACs. Originality/value: Contrary to prior research, this study examines the interplay of AC financial experts and industry specialist auditors. In addition, this study examines the interplay by using subtypes of financial experts on ACs and the combination of those subtypes. This study can be valuable to policy makers, academicians and investors by providing a more comprehensive view of the effectiveness of internal and external audits.

기업의 재무보고서를 감사하는 감사인은 경영자의 책임인 기업의 재무보고서가 일반적으로 인정된 회계원칙에 따라 대체적으로 공정하게 작성되었는지에 대한 합리적 확신(reasonable assurance)을 얻기위해, 증거를 수집하고 평가한다. 그 과정에서 감사인이 감사대상기업의 경영자나 종업원의 오류나 부정을 적발할 책임이 있는가는 오랫동안 논란의 대상이 되어왔다. 오류와부정 모두 재무제표의 공정성을 훼손시키나 오류는 고의성이 없는 부주의로 인한 실수이기 때문에 감사에서 쉽게 적발이 되고 또한 재무 보고서에 미치는 영향도 적은 반면에, 부정은 고의성을 가지고 있으며, 은폐 혹은 근거서류를 조작하기 때문에 감사로도 탐지가 쉽지 않으며, 더욱이 중요한(material) 액수를 포함하고 있어 재무보고서의 공정성에 심각한 위해를 가한다. 미국공인회계사회의 감사기준 심의회(Auditing Standards Board)는 감사인에게 종업원이나 경영자의 부정에 대한 경각심을 일 깨우고, 감사절차를 계획하고 수행하는 것을 돕기 위해 감사기준서(Statement on Auditing Standards: SAS) 82호에 "재무보고서 감사에 있어서 부정탐지에 관한 고찰"을 발행했다. 본 연구는 경영자 부정탐지의 방법으로 감사인들에게 자료들간의 상관관계를 비교, 분석하는 분석적 절차의 적극적인 활용을 권하고 있다.

This study examines whether differentiated disclosure of key audit matter (KAM) in China indicates a higher financial misstatement risk. Our empirical study demonstrates that financial statements with less boilerplate KAM are more likely to be subsequently restated than those with more boilerplate KAM. This association is only pronounced for smaller auditing firms in stronger legal environments. Additionally, auditors who report differentiated KAM are likely to disclose more risk?related information. Moreover, clients are more likely to restate financial reports when the KAM relates to managers' subjective estimations.

This study examines the effect of corporate governance on audit fees and audit hours during the financial crisis and pre-crisis periods. While the literature on the effect of corporate governance on audit fees is replete, the results are still mixed. By exploiting the crisis setting which represents exogenous shock unrelated to governance choices or auditing, we find that firms with strong corporate governance pay significantly higher audit fees and purchase additional audit hours. We also find that the sensitivity of audit fees and hours to the strength of corporate governance is higher during the crisis period relative to the pre-crisis period. Furthermore, the structure of audit fees and hours differs between the crisis and pre-crisis periods for firms with poor corporate governance. Collectively, the above results provide useful insights into the effect of governance on determination of audit fees.

This study investigates whether and how a regulatory change in the appointment procedure of audit committees affects firms’ choice of an auditor or a voluntary audit committee. It also investigates whether voluntary audit committees improve earnings quality. We find that relatively larger medium-sized firms with high ownership concentration establish voluntary audit committees to reinforce the control of major shareholders and that these audit committees do not improve financial reporting. Our result that audit committees do not necessarily improve financial reporting calls for policymakers and capital market participants to devote greater attention to audit committee appointments.

This paper introduces and criticizes a plan to change the structure of the auditing environment, thereby eliminating the inherent auditors' conflict of interest in the auditor-client relationship. The plan proposed here is a Financial Statement Insurance(FSI) mechanism. First, the framework and process of FSI will be introduced. Next, the benefits and challenges accompanying the implementation of FSI will be proposed. Lastly, FSI will be reviewed by the corporate governance theory.

Nevertheless, methods of previous study conducted only with DART system’s existing corporate disclosure information have a limitation in study. Therefore, this study aims to identify change in audit fees and audit hours after the adoption of K-IFRS through questionnaire survey conducted on working-level auditors, and check whether or not such change properly reflects the changed environment of accounting audit market. In conclusion, audit fees resulting from open audit engagement system has changed to a structure in which appropriate time cannot be input due to low-priced competitive strategies. Improvement measures for this include assigned audit system expansion of regulatory authority, adoption of lower limit policy on audit fees, companies’ enhanced perception on audit, and auditors’ efforts to increase audit fees. This study possesses a high value in introducing immediate responses of auditors (i.e. C.P.A.), accounting specialists, for the reasons of why audit fees increases, why audit fees decreases, and why audit fees does not change, not identifying what percentage increases for a result of empirical study.

In this study, we analyze the effects of disclosures of key audit matters on the usefulness of the financial statements in China. Specifically, an empirical analysis is conducted in three aspects as earnings accruals, real activities earnings management, and comparability of the financial statements. We collect 17,121 sample firm-years data in A-share listed companies from the year 2013 through the year 2019 and the characteristics of the KAM in the audit reports. Analyses show that the disclosure of key audit matters reduces the level of earnings accruals implying the enhancement of the quality of earnings. Although the disclosure of key audit matters does not significantly reduce the level of real activity earnings management in the full sample, there is a significant and negative correlation between the disclosure of key audit matters and the level of real activities earnings management in the sample of manufacturing companies. We find as the number of key audit matters increases, the level of real activity earnings management decreases significantly. We further find that there is a significant positive association between the comparability of accounting information and the disclosure of key audit matters, implying that the disclosure of key audit matters makes the financial statements more useful. Overall, the disclosures of key audit matters can significantly improve the quality of the financial statements.

Since the Blue Ribbon Committee(BRC)’s 1999 report and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002, the role of the audit committee has been more crucial to regulator, accounting profession, and business world. This study examines how the quality of audit committee and board of directors is associated with firm’s future financial performance. Focusing on the sample of firms listed on the Standard & Poor’s 500, this study empirically investigates the association between the quality of audit committee & board and firm’s future financial performance. Following prior studies, I use audit committee independence, size, and expertise as proxies for audit committee quality, and use board independence, size, and meeting frequency as proxies for board quality. For dependent variables, I utilize four financial ratios as proxies for firm’s financial performance, earning per share (EPS), price per share (PPS), net income over stock price (NI/Price), and return on assets (ROA). From the first test using EPS as proxy for firm performance, I find that audit committee size and board independence are positively associated with firm’s future financial performance as expected; however, board meeting frequency is negatively associated with firm performance, inconsistent with the expectation. From the second test using PPS, I find that board independence has positive association with firm performance while board meeting frequency has negative relationship with firm performance. From the test with NI over Price, I find that the number of audit committee member with financial expertise is positively related with firm performance. In the test using ROA as dependent variable, I find that board size is negatively related to firm performance. In general, this study shows that the quality of audit committee is positively associated with firm’s future financial performance. This study also shows the positive association between the quality of board of directors and firm’s performance. The findings from this study implies that the quality of the audit committee and the board of directors can influence firm’s future financial performance.