（2004）Audit Committee and Internal Audit Function Characteristics：Impact on Internal Audit Contribution to Financial Statement Audits.pdfVIP

Working Paper No. 2004-014 Audit Committee and Internal Audit Function Characteristics: Impact on Internal Audit Contribution to Financial Statement Audits By Mazlina Mat Zain Nava Subramaniam* Griffith University, Australia and Jenny Goodwin Queensland University of Technology, Australia Corresponding Author: * Dr.Nava Subramaniam Griffith Business School Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics Griffith University PMB 50 Gold Coast Mail Centre Queensland 9726, Australia Ph: 617 5552 8769 (Fax: 617 5552 8068) E-mail:n.subramaniam@.au 1 AUDIT COMMITTEE AND INTERNAL AUDIT FUNCTION CHARACTERISTICS: IMPACT ON INTERNAL AUDIT CONTRIBUTION TO FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDITS ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of audit committee and internal audit function characteristics on the extent of internal audit contribution to financial statement audits. Using survey data from chief internal auditors of 76 Malaysian publicly listed firms, we provide evidence of a positive relationship between internal audit contribution to financial statement audits and 3 audit committee characteristics: the proportion of independent audit committee members, their knowledge of accounting and auditing, and the extent of audit committee review of internal audit programs, budget and coordination proposals. Further, a positive relationship is found between internal audit contribution to the financial statement audit and internal audit function characteristics including size, experience of staff, ti