影響我國會計師終止財務報表查核委任之決策因素實證研究

本文擬以2001至2005年臺灣地區上市、上櫃公司向證券主管機關申報並公告之更換會計師資訊，及相關之財報與會計師查核報告等資料，探討臺灣地區會計師主動終止委任之決策因素。實證結論彙述如下：1. 若受查公司當年度報導淨損、財報重編次數愈高，代表財務報表存有誤述的可能性愈高，因而會計師主動終止委任之可能性愈高。再者，會計師之查核年資越長，對其受查客戶較為瞭解，從而審定財務報表發生錯誤的可能性較低，會計師主動終止委任之可能性亦愈低。2. 遭致前任會計師主動終止委任之公司，其具產業專家之繼任會計師接受委任的可能性，伴隨著受查公司之風險等級上升而逐漸下降，亦即市場佔有率較高、位列前四大／五大之會計師事務所，面臨高風險之受查客戶時，較有可能拒絕接受委任契約，以降低事務所所面臨之訴訟風險。

關鍵字

會計師更換；會計師主動終止委任

並列摘要

This paper tries to study the consideration factors for the auditor-initiated termination decision in Taiwan during the period of 2001-2005. Main empirical findings are summarized as follows. First, regarding the linkage of the decision of auditor resignation or declination to reappoint with auditor error cost, the authors present that firms are prone to resign from (1) the clients who operated in net loss, or (2) the clients who experienced a number of financial restatements, or (3) the engagements in which the auditors had short tenures. Second, regarding the firms whose predecessor auditors have resigned from audit engagements or declined reappointment while facing higher audit error costs, this paper suggests that the more specific industry expertise, proxied by market shares or firm reputations, the successor auditors possess, the lower likelihood that they accept such engagements.