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|f This research examined the impact of the quality of the internal audit activity on the timing of the issuance of the external audit report in the Egyptian professional practice environment. There has been increasing emphasis on the importance of internal audit and its role in the governance of Egyptian companies. The quality of the internal audit activity is determined by a set of variables addressed by the thinking of the audit, which represented the professional ability of those conducting the internal audit activity, The degree of independence, objectivity and quality of implementation of the tasks assigned to the employees in the internal audit activity. The researcher believes that one of the determinants of the quality of the internal audit activity is also the extent to which the employees of the internal audit activity comply with the professional standards issued by the internal audit regulators. The researcher also added another variable, which is the degree of dependence of the external auditor on the internal audit activity. This variable has not been addressed in previous research in the field of linking the quality of internal audit and the period of issuance of the external auditor's report. This research aims to study the impact of the quality of the internal audit activity on the timing of the issuance of the external audit report by the external auditor. To this end, a field study was conducted on the professional practice environment in the Arab Republic of Egypt on a sample of 115 items (those that were analysed after excluding those that did not respond and those that were not valid for analysis), of which 63 were from external auditors in large accounting and auditing firms, 52 individual observers of the Central Auditing Agency (the second section responsible for auditing companies), and by analyzing the data of the field study using some appropriate statistical methods, the researcher came to the following conclusions: 1. - The existence of an agreement between the two samples of the field study (external auditors and Central Auditing Agency observers) on the authenticity of the first assignment; This means that the employees of the internal audit activity comply with the internal audit standards issued by the international professional authorities through the existence of an internal audit manual at the company and Adherence to the rules of ethics and conduct of the internal audit profession leads to an increase in the quality of the internal audit activity and enables the external auditor to rely on the internal audit activity. This reflects on the efficiency of the external audit and the reduction of the time required to complete the audit of the financial statements and issue the audit report.\n2. There is agreement between the two field study samples on the genuineness of the second position, which means that increasing the professional capacity of the internal audit activity through educational background, the presence of internships programs, the company's strengthening of the continuing vocational education programs and Their membership in international professional organizations for internal audit and good planning and the existence of a system to follow up the implementation of tasks leading to increasing the quality of internal audit and improving the efficiency of performing the tasks assigned to the internal auditor. Thus, the External Auditor is encouraged to rely on these functions, thereby reducing the hours of external audit and the speed of issuance of the External Audit Report. 3. The existence of an agreement between the two samples of the field study on the fairness of the third position, which means that independence and objectivity of the internal audit activity affect the timing of the issuance of the external audit report; This is through the relative independence of employees of the internal audit activity, the functional subordination of the Board of Directors, the report of the Audit Committee and the existence of an effective audit committee that ensures the independence and objectivity of the internal audit activity.\n4. Agreement between the two samples of the field study on the genuineness of the fourth position, which means increasing the quality of the implementation of internal audit tasks through documentation of internal audit procedures, the existence of a system of supervision and follow-up and the support of senior management for internal audit activity and Immediate response to internal audit recommendations leads to increased quality of internal audit activity, faster completion of external audit tasks, i.e. saving external auditor time and quicker issuance of the external audit report. 5. There is an agreement between the two field study samples on the integrity of the fifth position, which means that an effective audit committee is reflected in increasing the quality of internal audit and influencing the timing of the issuance of the external audit report. This is through the absence of restrictions on meeting the internal auditors of the audit committee, increasing the number of members with financial and accounting expertise, and that the audit committee is responsible for appointing and dismissing the director of internal audit, Repeated Audit Committee meetings and increased number of non-executive members of the Audit Committee. 6. There is agreement between the two field study samples on the authenticity of the sixth position, which means that there is an inverse relationship between the degree of reliance of the external auditor on the internal audit activity and the time period required to issue the external audit report, as increasing the quality of internal audit leads to greater reliance by the external auditor on the functions performed by the internal auditors or even using them as assistants under his supervision in the field of external audit, Consequently, the speed of completion of external audit tasks and the reduction of time required to perform them compared to non-certification, which is reflected in the timing of the issuance of the external audit report.\nThis abstract translated by Dar AlMandumah Inc. 2018
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