Research Proposal - HomeSchool of BusinessThe George 商业的乔治家庭学校的研究计划.doc

The Impact of Internal Audit Function Quality and Contribution on Audit Delays Mina Pizzinia Cox School of Business Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX mpizzini@ Shu Lin Craig School of Business California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA shulin@ Mark Vargus LeBow College of Business Drexel University Philadelphia, PA 19104-2875 Douglas Ziegenfuss College of Business and Public Administration Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA 23529 dziegenf@ November 28, 2010 We thank the Institute of Internal Auditors for access to the Global Auditing Information Network (GAIN) database. We thank Chris Hogan, Barry Brian, and seminar participants at the University of Tennessee for their helpful comments. a Corresponding author  The Impact of Internal Audit Function Quality and Contribution on Audit Delays ABSTRACT This study examines the role that the internal audit function (IAF) plays in the timeliness of financial reporting by investigating whether measures of IAF quality and the IAF’s contribution to the financial statement audit are associated with audit delay. Audit delay is the number of days between a firm’s fiscal year-end and the report date (Ashton et al. 1987). Pursuant to Section 409 of SOX, a 2002 SEC ruling shortened 10-K reporting deadlines for accelerated filers from 90 days to 60 days over a period of three years (U.S. Congress 2002; SEC 2002). At the same time, Section 404 of SOX significantly expanded internal control audit requirements and Auditing Standard No. 3 (AS 3) increased audit documentation requirements (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board [PCAOB] 2004a). Recent studies indicate that the acceleration in reporting deadlines, together with stronger attestation requirements, has compromised the reliability of accounting information by requiring auditors to do more work in less time (Bronson et al. 2010, Lambert et al. 2010). Given the potential tradeoff between the timeliness and reliability of disclosures and the opportunity