감사환경과 재무적 특성이 재무보고 공시의 적시성에 미치는 영향

초록

Recently, the adoption of online systems such as DART by businesses for fair disclosure has led to lesser information asymmetry and higher information usefulness in markets. However, even in the case of audit reports with qualified opinions, in practice, it is not infrequent for these to be submitted past the deadline prescribed in the disclosure regulations. Therefore, in this study, we use linear and logistic regression analyses to examine the relevance of the sequential disclosure dates of financial reports and audit environments and financial characteristics that influence the timeliness of disclosure dates. First, the results indicate that the timeliness of the preparation date of an audit report positively (+) influences the timeliness of the online disclosure date. Second, for the Big 4 accounting firms, there were delays in the preparation and online disclosure of audit reports, which thus negatively influenced the timeliness of online disclosure. It is plausible that this is due to the higher engagement of the Big 4 accounting firms. Third, larger firm size tended to have delays in the preparation of audit reports but conduct general meetings of shareholders earlier, which in turn negatively influenced the timeliness of the preparation and online disclosure of audit reports. Fourth, firms with higher debt ratios tended to delay general meetings of shareholders, which positively influenced the timeliness of the preparation and online disclosure of audit reports. Fifth, while more profitable firms tended to have earlier dates for general meetings of shareholders and online disclosure of audit reports, the overall effect on the timeliness of online disclosure was negative, due to the weakness of the online disclosure date’s effect. Meanwhile, there are limitations to interpreting the timeliness of an audit report’s preparation and online disclosure date, as, for a given general meeting of shareholders, they have contrary effects in terms of timeliness. Nonetheless, in this study, we have presented empirical evidence that the relevance of the sequential disclosure dates and the timeliness of the disclosure of financial reports may serve as a new source of information regarding a firm’s financial characteristics. This study is also significant as, by using the Big 4 accounting firms as a proxy for high audit quality and identifying their negative influence on the timeliness of financial reports, we have presented implications for need of institutional improvements.

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