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AUDITOR’S
INDEPENDENCE; A TOOL FOR ACHIEVING TRUE AND FAIR VIEW OF ACCOUNTING RECORDS
ABSTRACT
This
research study was carried out to investigate the relevance of auditors
independence as a tool for achieving true and fair view of accounting records.
The specific objectives of the study were to; evaluate the factors that
influence auditors independent on audit reports, examine if auditors
independence actually helps to reduce doubt attributable to the authencity of
auditor reports, determine the impact of auditors reports in decision making
and finally to investigate if auditor are p[erforming their task in compliance
with the provision of the professional rules. In achieving these stated
objectives, data were collected from members of staff of oilbath Nigeria
Limited. The method of data enquiry employed was survey design. Data were
collected using research questionnaires from sixty (60) members of staff of the
case study while chi square analysis techniques was employed for testing
hypotheses of the study. Based on literature review and data presentation and
analysis in the previous chapter, the major findings of the study was that
effective audit practice affects organizational performance positively.
Conclusion was then drawn that auditors independent helps auditors in
performing their core objectives. The
recommendation made was that auditors and auditing organization should be
rotated by the organizations employing g their services and that organizations
management should form audit committee as an internal control measure.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Independence
is fundamental to the reliability of auditor’s reports. Those reports would not
be credible, and investors and creditors would have little confidence in them
if auditors were not independent in both fact and appearance. To be credible,
an auditor’s opinion must be based on an objective and disinterested assessment
of whether the financial statements are presented fairly in conformity with
generally accepted accounting principles.
As expressed
by council of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in a
statement adopted in 1947: independence both historically and philosophically,
is the foundation of the public accounting profession and upon its maintenance
depends the strength and its stature.
In 1932,
AICPA council considered prohibitions against auditors serving as officers or
directors of clients, and rejected them as unnecessary. However, the proposal
indicated the first concerns over a need to preserve the importance of
maintaining objectivity, as well as being independent in fact.
The term
audit is derived from the Latin verb “Audre” which means “to hear”. The origin
of audit dates from ancient time when the land owners allowed tenant farmers to
work on their lands while the land owner themselves did not become involved in
the business of farming. The landlords relied upon an overseer who listened to
the accounting of stewardship given by the tenants.
Auditing has
been defined by various auditors over the years from different perspectives.
However, the one that was given by International Auditing (IAG) will be
considered for this research project. This guideline was issued by the
International Federation of Accounting Committee (IFAC). The definition view
auditing as “An independent examination of the expression of an opinion on the
financial statement of an enterprise by an appointed auditor, in accordance
with his term of engagement and the observance of statutory regulations and
professional requirements”.
The
definition stated by the International Federation of Accounting Committee
(IFAC) exposes some vital features which are expedient for a comprehensive
knowledge of auditing via;
(a) Independent
(b) Expression of professional opinion
(c) Term of engagement
(d) Statutory and professional requirements.
The
definition clarifies that an auditor has to be independent of the management
who is responsible for the preparation of (financial statement, and he must be
responsible to the owners who receive and utilize the reports). He must also be
independent of government agencies or other groups who have contact with the
business.
The auditor,
in his report does not state that the financial statement show a true and fair
view but he can however say that in his opinion, the financial statement show a
true and fair view. If the auditor is known to be independent, his opinion will
be relied upon by the shareholders and creditors.
An auditor
needs to agree in writing the price scope of the work to be undertaken before
commencing any audit assignment. This is done through the medium of engagement
letter. An auditor complies with statutory regulations and professional
requirements. Nigeria perspective of an auditor is that of one who is a
chartered accountant, who is a member of a recognized professional body such as
ICAN, ACCA and so on. His activities are guided by statutes for example CAMD
1990, ICAN Act 1965 and so on, and pronouncement of relevant professional
bodies.
An auditor
is required to be independent from the entity it audits. The independence
requirement applying to auditors are legally enforceable and are located within
some legislations and standards. Therefore, the auditor should be an
independent person who is appointed to investigate financial activities of an
organization. This may include its records and the financial statements
prepared by the management. The auditor would need a degree of independence to
be able to carry out all the expectations of the shareholders and other
interested parties in the business or organization. An opinion by an independent
public accountant as to the fairness of a company’s financial statement is of
no value unless the accountant is truly independent. Moreover, they often serve
as financial advisers and consultant to management.
Auditor’s
independence can be defined as a reference to the independence of internal or
external auditors from parties that might have financial interest in the
business being audited.
Independence
requires:
-
Independence of mind: The state of mind that permits the provision of an
opinion without being affected by influences that compromise professional
judgement, allowing an individual to act with integrity, and exercise
objectivity and professional scepticism.
-
Independence in appearance: The avoidance of facts and circumstances that are
so significant that a reasonable and informed third party, having knowledge of
all relevant information, including safeguards applied, would reasonably
conclude a firm’s, or a member of the assurance team’s, integrity, objectivity
or professional scepticism had been compromised.
The use of
the word “independence” on its own may create misunderstandings. Standing
alone, the word may lead observers to suppose that a person exercising
professional judgement ought to be free from all economic, financial and other
relationships. This is impossible, as every member of society has relationships
with others. Therefore, the significance of economic, financial and other
relationships should also be evaluated in the light of what a reasonable and
informed third party having knowledge of all relevant information would
reasonably conclude to be unacceptable.
AU section
220 of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) states
that for auditor’s independence the auditor “must be without bias with respect
to the client since otherwise he [or she) would lack that impartiality
necessary for the dependability of his [or her] findings, however excellent his
[or her) technical proficiency may be.”
The
International Federation of Accountants Committee (IFAC) provides a framework
of principles that members of assurance teams, firms and network firms should
use to identify threats to independence, evaluate the significance of those
threats, and, if the threats are other than clearly insignificant, identify and
apply safeguards to eliminate the threats or reduce them to an acceptable
level, such that independence of mind and independence in appearance are not
compromised.
In
situations when no safeguards are available to reduce the threat to an
acceptable level, the only possible actions are to eliminate the activities or
interest creating the threat, or to refuse to accept or continue the assurance
engagement
According to
Fagbohungbe (1993), if an auditor is dependent, then the essence of his
appointment is completely lost. The credibility gap mat that created the need
for auditing in the first place will continue to exist; consequently, his
report will be unreliable.
Hence, the
independence of the auditor is a major attribute that enables him to ensure
accountability. Auditor’s independence is important because it has an impact on
the audit quality. DeAngelo (1981b) suggests that audit quality is defined as
the probability that the auditor will uncover the breach and report the breach.
If the auditor does not remain independent, auditor will be less likely to
report the irregularities and hence, the audit quality will be impaired. Since
the independence of the auditor is a critical issue for the auditing
profession, many studies have been performed in this area.
Client
importance involves the degree of auditors being economically dependent on the
client. When providing service to the client, an audit firm receives
remuneration from the client, resulting in auditors being financially bonded to
the client (DeAngelo, 198Ia). If the client constitutes a relatively large part
of an auditor’s portfolio, an auditor has an incentive to retain the client to
warrant a future source of revenues and profits and therefore, to compromise
independence and act in favor of the client (Blay, 2005).
Non-audit
services can also adversely affect auditor’s independence. When the external
auditors provide non-audit service to the client, they receive more income,
which may result in greater economic dependence, as discussed earlier.
Furthermore, the joint provision of audit and non-audit services by the same
auditor may cause conflict of interest since he may become less skeptical in
reviewing his own work.
Auditor
tenure can lead to impairment of independence. As the auditor-client
relationship lengthens, the auditor may develop close relationship with the
client and become more likely to act in favor of management, resulting in
reduced objectivity and audit quality.
Client’s
affiliation with CPA firms involves the situation where part of the client’s personnel
used to work for the current auditor. The affiliation can cause impairment of
independence from personal relationship between the client’s officer and the
auditor or the ex-auditor’s acquaintance and circumvention of the audit
methodology (Lennox, 2005).
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The primary
objective underlying the dependence of the auditor is to obtain and sustain the
confidence of users of financial information in the audit report. Financial
information users in Nigeria have over the years relied on the auditors’
reports alongside other sources of information to take financial decision.
Their opinion on the financial statement of their client company is very
important to users of accounting information.
However, the
recent distortion and misleading report in the financial reports of most
companies have indicated that the auditors are not enjoying the independence
that will make them present the real problem of such companies to the outside
world, the reason upon which this research work is based.
Relatively,
many accounting records presented to shareholders and interested parties in the
report of a company have not been prepared to show the true and fair state of
accounting records.
1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The major
purpose of this study is to examine auditor’s independence and how it will
achieve true and fair view of accounting records within Qilbath Nigeria Ltd, a
business terrain in Nigeria. In achieving this, other derivation objectives are
considered and will serve as guidance for the study, they include:
(1) To evaluate the variables that influence
auditor’s independence on the audit work.
(2) To examine if auditor’s independence has
actually reduced the doubt attributable to authenticity of the auditor’s
report.
(3) To determine the impact of auditor’s
report in decision to be made and to make recommendations based on the findings
of this study.
(4) To investigate if auditors are
performing their tasks in compliance with the provision of the professional
rules.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In achieving
the purpose of this study, the following research questions are put forward in
the quest for answers to the problem being investigated.
1. Can auditor’s independence improve the
reliance that shareholders, creditors, among others have about an audit report?
2. Do auditors always operate within the
framework of accounting standards and other regulations?
3. Can an auditor be allowed to
participate in the establishment of effective auditing system in an
organization?
4. How could statutory regulations and
professional requirements disrupt the smooth implementation of the audit work?
5. Is the law strong enough to protect
the independence of auditors in order to be able to carry out legitimate
functions?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
The
following research hypotheses are tested at 0.05 level of significance;
H0: Auditor’s independence will assist the
auditors in forming their audit report.
H1: Auditor’s independence will not assist
the auditors in forming their audit report.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This
research work attempts to give insight into auditor’s independence and see it
as the only tool for achieving true and fair view of accounting records. It
will examine the meaning of independence, the class of independence and their
various advantages and also the statutory and professional regulations that
ensure auditor’s independence together with their appointment, removal,
liabilities and duties.
Although the
research topic is one which will cover a wide area and aspect to the
development of accounting and auditing profession, but as it will not be
convenient to visit all audit firms in the country as to know their opinion on
this issue due to time and cost constraint, the study is only limited to
Oilbath Nigeria Limited and chartered accountants in Lagos state.
1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
This study
will bring increase in investment from the shareholders because the financial
reports so presented to them could be relied upon. This research work will
change the orientation of the general public especially the shareholders as to
their dependability on the accounts audited by an independent auditor.
This work
will also seek to make known areas where auditors need much assistance and full
backing of the law in the discharge of their duties.
The study
will also give vital information to those aspiring to be auditors as regard
their appointment, remuneration, removal and independence in the various
organization set ups and parastals they find themselves. The possible outcome
of the study will reduce the chance of conspiracy, fraud and misappropriation
of shareholders’ funds and also embezzlement can be minimized where there is a
qualified independent auditor to cover document.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
ACCOUNTS; a
detailed list of everything that a person or company earns or spend.
AUDITOR;
somebody who checks accounts or conducts the audit of an organization.
INDEPENDENCE;
freedom from dependence on or control by another person or organization.
REFERENCE
Blay, A. D.
2005. Independence threats, litigation risk, and the auditor’s decision
process. Contemporary Accounting Research 22 (4): 759-789
Casterella,
J. R., J. R. Francis, B. L. Lewis, and P. L. Walker. Auditor industry
specialization, client bargaining power, and audit pricing. Auditing: A Journal
of Practice and Theory 23 (1): 123-140
DeAngelo, L.
E. 1981b. Auditor size and audit quality. Journal of Accounting and Economics
3: 183-199
Gaynor, L.
M., L. S. McDaniel, and T. L. Neal. 2006. The effects of joint provision and
disclosure of non-audit services on audit committee members’ decisions and
investors’ preferences. The Accounting Review 81(4): 873-896
Lennox, C.
2005. Audit quality and executive officers’ affiliations with CPA firms.
Journal of Accounting and Economics 39: 201-23
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