本研究以2007至2015年設置審計委員會之台灣上市(櫃)公司為研究樣本,探討審計委員會具備財務或會計專長與審計報告時效性之關聯性。實證結果顯示,審計委員會成員財會專家比例愈高則審計報告時間落差愈短。本研究進一步探討審計委員會召集人財會背景與審計報告時效性之關係,發現審計委員會召集人具備財務或會計專長與審計報告時間落差呈顯著負向關係。 本研究額外測試發現審計委員會之財務或會計專長也能顯著縮短財務報表公布時間落差,顯示審計委員會之財會專業有助於提升財務報表之時效性。另外,本研究探討證券交易法第36條修法縮短財務報表公告期限是否影響主要實證結果,發現修法後減緩審計委員會財會專業對於審計報告時間落差之影響。
This study examines the association between firms with audit committee financial experts and audit report timeliness. Using a sample of Taiwanese listed companies with an audit committee from 2007 to 2015, I find that audit report lag is negatively associated with the percentage of financial experts in an audit committee. I also find a negative relationship between audit committee chair’s financial expertise and audit report lag. Further analyses show that firms with audit committee financial experts also lead to a shorter financial report lag, indicating an improvement in the timeliness of financial reporting. Moreover, I investigate whether the main results are driven by the amendment of Article 36 of Securities Exchange Act which intends to accelerate the deadline for listed companies to submit financial reports, and my results find that the effect of audit committee financial expertise on audit report lag is mitigated by the amendment of Securities Exchange Act.