揭露關鍵查核事項與盈餘品質之關聯性研究

本研究旨在探討會計師於查核報告中揭露關鍵查核事項是否會影響企業財務報表之盈餘品質。我國金融監督管理委員會於2016年要求上市（櫃）企業採用新式查核報告，根據審計準則57號公報「財務報表查核報告」之規範，會計師須於查核報告中溝通當期財務報表查核過程中最重要之事項─關鍵查核事項，此有助於傳達更多企業個別資訊予報表使用者，提高查核報告之溝通價值。本研究認為，透過額外資訊之揭露，有助於減少管理當局盈餘管理之誘因，減緩盈餘管理之程度，對財務報表盈餘品質具有正面影響。本研究以異常應計數作為盈餘品質之代理變數，探討上市（櫃）企業2016年之盈餘品質相較於2013年-2015年是否有改善。實證結果顯示，上市（櫃）企業在採用新式查核報告並揭露關鍵查核事項後，財務報表之異常應計數有顯著地降低。然而，異常應計數改善之程度與資訊揭露品質並無顯著關聯性。本研究亦發現，揭露關鍵查核事項數量多寡並未與異常應計數存有顯著關聯，但揭露較多與流動資產相關之關鍵查核事項有助於抑制盈餘管理之行為，尤其是揭露與應收帳款減損相關之關鍵查核事項。綜上結果，會計師於查核報告中揭露關鍵查核事項有助於改善財務報表之盈餘品質。

關鍵字

新式查核報告；關鍵查核事項；異常應計數；盈餘品質；盈餘管理

並列摘要

This paper examines the relationship between the disclosure of Key Audit Matters in audit report and earnings quality. On 2016, Financial Supervisory Commission requires that auditors of companies listed at stock exchange market or over-the-counter market should issue the new audit report based on Auditing Standard NO. 57. Under the new audit report, accountants must disclose Key Audit Matters (KAM), the most significant matters in the audit of the financial statements of the current period, in order to enhance the communicative value of the audit report. This study believes that the additional information provided through the disclosure of KAM would help reduce the level of earnings management. This study uses abnormal accruals as a proxy for earnings quality to investigate whether the earnings quality improves after the adoption of new audit report in 2016, comparing to that of 2013-2015. Our empirical results show that there is a significant negative association between the disclosure of KAM and abnormal accruals. However, the level of quality improvement is insignificant between companies with higher reporting quality and those with lower reporting quality. This study does not find significant association between earnings quality and total number of KAM in auditor’s report, but significant association is documented with the number of KAM related to current assets, particularly in Impairment of Accounts Receivable. To sum up, the disclosure of KAM is found to be able to mitigate the earnings management, resulting in a better earnings quality.