Preview

THE NEED FOR AN INTERNAL AUDITOR REPORT TO EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS TO IMPROVE GOVERNANCE TRANSPARENCY

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
943 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
THE NEED FOR AN INTERNAL AUDITOR REPORT TO EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS TO IMPROVE GOVERNANCE TRANSPARENCY
Quistions on Academic Research Case
The need for an Internal Auditor Report to External Stakeholders to Improve Governance Transparency

Naimah AlBaharnah
Prof. Liotta, Joseph P
AC629, Contemporary Issues In Auditing
June 19, 2014
What is the issue being addressed in the paper? 

Sarbanes Oxley mandates requires all public companies to establish internal controls and procedures for financial reporting. In addition they must document, test and maintain those controls and procedures to ensure their effectiveness. The purposes of SOX are to emphasis on corporate governance and to reduce the possibilities of corporate fraud by increasing the stringency of procedures and requirements for financial reporting.
Under Sarbanes Oxley act, management is required to produce an "internal control report" as part of each annual Exchange Act report. This paper discusses the need for an internal auditor report (IAR) to increase governance transparency for external stakeholders. While the internal audit function is an important and distinct governance mechanism, external stakeholders typically lack the direct relevant information about the function that is available to insiders from other governance mechanisms (e.g., management, audit committee, and external auditor).
b. What are the findings of the paper?
The paper argues that the discloser of the internal auditor report (IAR) is very important because it provides investors with independent and objective evaluation of the company’s financial and operation activities such as corporate governance and evaluate the operational efficiencies. The research specifies that disclosing a formal internal audit report (IAR) may improve the overall governance transparency, which stakeholders rely on to improve confidence and decision-making, in addition to reduce information asymmetry costs.

c. Why is this paper important to auditors, and what are the implications of this paper for the auditing profession?
The paper uses multiple



Cited: Deborah S. Archambeault, F. T. (2008). The Need for an Internal Auditor Report to External Stakeholders to Improve Governance Transparency . American Accounting Association .

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    acct 504 case study 2

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) has established the following guidelines for publicly traded corporations and require adherence for internal controls and procedures for financial reporting. Senior management and executives will be responsible for ensuring that controls are effective and reliable. Outside auditors must periodically verify the accuracy of and adherence to the internal controls. As part of the annual Exchange Act report, an internal control report will generated along with the information recorded during each fiscal year.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Acc 290 Week 5 Analysis

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the role of internal control in complying with (SOX) federal regulations have been revised to constrict responsibility dealing directly with directors, officers, and auditors. The revision obligates companies that are publicly traded to incorporate three precise reports within their annual financial reports to include the following:…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Acc 544 Week 1

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To understand how the addition of an internal auditor will help a business, the exact role and function of the internal auditor must be known. An internal auditor is an employee of a company that provides the organization with an independent assessment of the organization’s risk management and internal control. Additionally, the internal auditor ensures a company is in compliance with government regulations. This has been a point of emphasis in recent years with the passage of large-scale government regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Ultimately the findings and recommendations of the internal auditor seek to improve a company’s efficiencies and operations.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    M. Wood Company. (2012, November 1). The role of Internal Audit in Complying with Sarbanes- Oxley. Retrieved from http://www.mwoodco.com/value/Internal_Audit_7-03.pdf…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Acct 504 Case Study 2

    • 1398 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Statement identifying the framework used by management to evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s internal control over financial reporting.…

    • 1398 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sarbanes-Oxley Act

    • 534 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, often abbreviated as SOX, is a legislative act passed by Congress in response to the Enron and WorldCom financial scandals. The primary purpose of SOX is to protect shareholders from errors or fraudulent reporting by the company they have invested in. The Sarbanes-Oxley act is enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission, a department dedicated to ensuring compliance to SOX from all firms, and is also responsible for revising provisions of the act in order to keep it current and up to date.…

    • 534 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The goals of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are expansive, including the improvement of the quality of audits in an attempt to eliminate fraud in order to protect the public’s interest, as well as for the protection of the investors (Donaldson, 2003). Prior to the implementation of SOX auditors were self-regulated with consumers reliant on their honesty and integrity. However, the auditing profession failed at self-regulation, thus necessitating the implementation of a security measure that would protect the investors and the public and restore confidence in the accounting profession. SOX was the response by the federal government, augmenting the role of auditors in enforcing federal securities laws against fraud and theft within public companies. (Coates, 2007) Additionally, SOX emphasizes executive responsibility and the improvement of disclosures and financial reporting (Donaldson, 2003).…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The intent of the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) Act was to improve the accuracy of the information given to both boards and shareholders. It requires entities to adopt the existing best practices for information reporting. The Act accomplished this goal by applying the following provisions: repairing incentives and independence in the auditing process, creating stricter penalties for providing false information and forcing companies to validate their internal financial regulation processes.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    SARBANES OXLEY ACT 2002

    • 1374 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The cost of compliance can be excessive for some smaller companies. Auditing expenses cause companies to seek private investment and become privately owned (San Antonio Express-News, 2007). Ten years ago, critics expressed “fears that small, publicly listed companies might not meet internal control reporting requirements without substantial additional expense; some may have to delist because of it. It could mean only larger companies will go public” (Coustan, 2004, p. 1). In recent years, this debate continues. Critics still express concerns “that Sarbanes-Oxley is overreaching and has placed unnecessary restrictions on…

    • 1374 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sox Research Paper

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, also known as SOX, is a federal law that requires publicly traded companies to individually certify the accuracy of their financial information. The law was enacted as a reaction to corporate accounting scandals that caused investors to lose billions of dollars. SOX was passed in 2002 and required senior managers to certify that their reported financial statement was accurate. SOX also required companies to establish internal controls and reporting methods.…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 2002, change came to the financial reporting sector for entities in the form of regulation and governance. The change, Sarbanes-Oxley or Sox Act, was a new federal law, setting new standards for financial reporting that public entities, management, and accounting firms to obey by. Sox put accountability on management to now certify the accuracy of their financial statements, information provided to the public, and increase penalties for fraudulent financial acts. Also, increase the independence between outside auditors who review financials for firms and increased oversight of Board…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sarbanes-Oxley Act Essay

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Formation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board as the result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has improved the standards of each public firm, created equalities between different companies, provided clear guidelines for audits, and established fair and ethical accounting practices. Secondly, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires audits to archive the financial information of publicly traded firms for five years in order to increase the security associated with financial data. SOX’s primarily objectives are to improve the protection for investors, thus the change in the length of archiving financial information provides the evidence of a firm’s financial statements. Thirdly, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act implemented criminal penalties for non-compliance, and it is assumed to be the main reason why companies and audits follow the mandates extremely…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Section 404 Sarbanes Oxley

    • 1951 Words
    • 8 Pages

    As a result of the SOX Act, Corporate Managers (CEOs, CFOs) are required to: 1) issue Internal Control Report beginning with the 2004 company annual report; 2) certify quarterly to the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting; 3) issue two opinions on internal controls on the annual report a) management’s assessment process and b) effectiveness of controls. Moreover, Section 404 mandated company reporting on internal control by management and independent auditors. What is the reasoning behind the decision? In fact, according to the Authors, SEC believes that First, internal control was not conceptually designed to be a panacea for corporate ills. Traditionally, in the audit literature, the concept of internal control is narrow in scope and procedural in application. It is narrow because the scope of internal control is largely confined to accounting systems to support the accounting process. It is procedural because auditors tend to follow a set of prescribed mechanical procedures to determine whether internal controls surrounding and embedded in accounting systems are reliable. In general, auditors will not concern themselves with controls beyond the accounting process. This is where the problem of the traditional internal control concept lies.…

    • 1951 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Economic Analysis. (2009). Study of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Section 404 Internal Control over Financial Reporting…

    • 2242 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In today’s society, there is a demand for compliance and accountable for companies. Sarbanes-Oxley Act converts the bar for risk management, corporate governance, internal controls, risk awareness and training, disclosure and auditing requirements for public companies. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act established the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and it provides oversight for auditors of public companies; establishes auditing, attestation and quality control standards for public company audits; and performs inspections of audit engagements as well as the quality controls at audit firms performing those audits. The act restores confidence in financial reporting and holds management liable for violations. This paper examines research and details…

    • 119 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays