Regressivity of the corporate taxpayers’ compliance costs

This study evaluates the regressivity of taxpayers’ compliance costs with the corporate income tax reporting requirements.Compliance costs as a percentage of sales turnovers, ranged from 0.057% of the smallest company to 0.001% of the largest company. Larger companies were generally found to have greater compliance costs than their smaller counterparts, but as a percentage of sales, these costs were greater for smaller corporations. This study adds to the growing body of international literature concerning the distribution of compliance costs burden.Findings from these research activities should lead to the progression of more effective and efficient tax policies and practices

Empowering the society through companies CSR agenda

Topic of socioeconomic issue is one of the most widely discussed globally as it gives effects to occupation, education, income, wealth, and place of residence of individuals.These social challenges should be addressed and resolved because to enhance individuals’ contribution to economic and social life of their society and reduce social tensions and conflicts that negatively affects country’s economic development. For this reason, in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (2016-2020), the Malaysian Government stresses on the importance of participation of companies in empowering society to improve socioeconomic that could support equitable society.The empowerment programs aim to improve the education, quality of life and wellbeing of individuals and groups in society through reducing wealth gap, racial imbalance and promoting employment equity. One way to initiate greater involvement of the companies in socioeconomic development of the society is through CSR agenda.Specifically, the CSR agenda through empowerment activities (such as trainings programs, educational sponsorship mentorship program and learning and development programs) is believed to have a positive implication on society by way of improving wealth, education and skills of the individuals.Hence, this paper aims to develop measurement of empowerment in companies CSR agenda

People and audit process attributes of audit quality: Evidence from Malaysia / Noor Adwa Sulaiman, Suhaily Shahimi and Ranjit Kaur Nashtar Singh.

This study seeks to add to understanding of the concept and attributes of audit quality from the perspective of those responsible for delivery audit services, the auditors, as a key constituent group in the auditing system. The study surveyed two groups of external auditors (group 1- audit partners and managerial level and, group 2 - senior auditors and junior auditors), as a basis to compare their perceptions on important of auditors and audit process attributes in achieving audit quality in practice. The study was conducted in the form of a survey, with data being gathered via questionnaire. Returned surveys from external auditors yielded a 37% response rate. Overall, top 5 highest rated attributes of audit quality reported to be most important in determining audit quality are: compliance with the International Standard Quality Control (ISCQ) 1, obtaining credible and sufficient audit evidence, technical expertise of audit team, audit work meeting the audit firms’ quality standards, and competency of the audit team. Further analysis shows that the two groups of respondents have differential views on attributes of audit quality in practice. Group 1 perceived attributes of audit quality are related to auditor’s assessment of risk and internal quality review procedures within the audit firm. In comparison, group 2 perceived auditors’ competency and compliance with relevant standards as indicators of audit quality. This study suggests differences in underlying view about attributes audit quality in practice by the two groups of auditors. Public accounting firms might be interested to understand such underlying differences so that efforts in improving audit quality in practice would be focusing on the key attributes that perceived to be important on delivery high-quality audit services. This study is significant by extending the literature on audit quality and also provides useful input to public accounting firms in improving audit quality in practice

The Impact of Financial Determinants on Malaysian Reits’ Performance

Property investment in Malaysia has experienced tremendous growth and is considered one of the prime investments by investors due to its stable return growth over the years. This study examined the effects of six financial determinants (earnings per share, debts to assets, price- to-book value, dividend yield, market capitalisation, and return on equity) on the annual return of Malaysian Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). The common performance indicator of company can be seen in the percentage change in stock price plus when the dividend paid at the end of the year is used to measure the annual return performance of REITs. A total of 154 firm year observations for a sample of 14 Malaysian REIT companies were examined for a period of 11 years (2008-2018) from the Bloomberg terminal. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings showed that there is a positive relationship between earning per share, price-to-book value and dividend yield and REITs’ annual return. On the other hand, this study showed that there is no significant relationship between debts to assets and REITs’ annual return. The results also showed that market capitalisation and return on equity are negatively related to Malaysian REITs’ annual returns. Overall, the results highlighted two key features. First, earnings per share and return on equity should be used by investors and management to assess the profitability and operational efficiency of REITS. Second, the investors should use dividend yield as one of the key investment criteria when assessing REIT investment decisions. This study contributed to the literature in REITs by increasing the effects of the explanatory power of financial determinants on REITs’ annual returns

Audit quality in practice: a study of perceptions of auditors, audit committee members and quality inspectors

The aim of this thesis is to provide insights into what the concept of audit quality means for a number of parties who have responsibilities for delivering, commissioning or evaluating audit quality in practice - auditors, AC members and quality inspectors concerning. It explores the influence of internal and external factors in the auditing setting on the construction of meaning of audit quality and how meaning is symbolised in practice. This research is based on an interpretive approach employing research methods of document analysis, semi-structured interviews and a survey questionnaire. Drawing on a symbolic interactionist framework, the research illustrates the process of giving meaning to audit quality in practice. The study identifies various constructs that give meaning to audit quality in practice - auditors' characteristics, firm's characteristics, compliance obligations, the content and control of audit procedures, financial statement quality and client service orientation. It also identifies acts such as asking challenging questions, professional appearance, the quality of interaction between auditor and AC, consultation and training, and objects such as documents and records as fundamental in symbolising audit quality in practice. The study also highlights the existence of possible conflicts between some of these constructs of audit quality and the potential for problems in audit quality in practice.The research reports that the audit practitioners predominantly framed their conceptions of the meaning of audit quality around four important constructs: client service, compliance obligations, the technical audit process or content, and individual auditors' characteristics. Client service is found to have a particular importance for the practitioners' meaning of audit quality. Their construction of the meaning for audit quality is influenced by interactions with other audit market constituents as well as by economic and societal forces in the auditing environment. Auditors perceptions of what quality means in practice are underpinned by factors such as the need to legitimise the conduct of the auditor, to restore trust and confidence in the public at large about the quality of audit services, to maintain profitability and the survival of the audit firm given the competitive and commercial pressures in the audit market, and to legitimise firm methodology and the resulting audit process to outside constituents.Amongst the AC members interviewed, the meaning of audit quality appears to be associated with the characteristics of individual auditors, in particular, auditors' interpersonal and behavioural skills, attributes of the audit firm (size and industry specialisation) and financial statement quality. The findings show that AC members perceptions of audit quality significantly depend on the 'relational' rather than the technical attributes of individual auditors. The quality of the financial statements also dominates the AC members' perceptions of audit quality rather than a technical interpretation of the quality of the content of the audit process. The AC members' conception of meaning for audit quality is influenced by interaction and communication with the external auditors. For the quality inspectors, the meaning of audit quality is mainly constructed in relation to the conduct or content of an audit. Therefore, the level of challenge to the management of the audit, and the sufficiency of evidence and documentation are important for constructing their perceptions of audit quality. They also ascribe considerable importance to the internal compliance-quality control applied within the audit firm the notion of audit quality. Overall, the study describes the multifaceted meaning of audit quality and how this is influenced and shaped by interactions - based on role expectations, self-image, economic and social factors - and illustrates the way in which various acts and objects are used to represent practical meaning for the abstract concept of audit quality in practice. These findings have relevance for auditors, other parties to audit engagements, policy makers and regulators concerned with the contribution of auditing to the financial reporting system and for academic researchers seeking to develop a deeper understanding of how that contribution is achieved in practice.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGovernment of MalaysiaUniversity of MalayaGBUnited Kingdo

Follow-up audit as an accountability mechanism of public sector performance auditing

Public sector performance auditing poses significant role in appraising the accountability of government through monitoring the operation of public power, especially how public resources are being used.In parallel, follow-up audit appear to be important to recheck on the responsiveness of auditee towards audit recommendation on various issues raised pertaining to improper use of public fund.Lack of audit follow-up may cause a problem to measure the real value of performance audit and expected results of audit recommendation. Accountability mechanism pertaining to follow up audit in public sector performance audit perspective need to be enforced not by sole actor but various actors.Accountability mechanism regarded as either the right to argument or questions information conveyed and information flow pertaining to unresolved performance audit issues by various actors for settlement.During the follow-up audit, a free flow of information by all those actors enable them to voice their concern or stand to ensure performance audit issues are well taken care in terms of corrective as well as preventive action.In other words it implies how auditors with the influence of Parliament, PAC, Media and citizen or general public participating during the follow-up audit and consequently become one of the accountability mechanism of public sector performance auditing.Since it involves various actors within the accountability circle, this study is anticipated to provide empirical facts on the influence of each actors in the current practice of follow-up audit as perceived by the SAI auditors based on the developed conceptual framewor

The audit committees, internal audit and external audit quality effects on earnings management : an analysis of Malaysian government-linked companies

The role of audit governance mechanisms as part of the corporate governance architecture has been promoted to ensure the integrity of the financial reporting process. In order to get insights on their effectiveness, this study investigates the effects of the audit governance mechanism, specifically audit committee, internal audit function and external audit quality on earnings management in Malaysian government-linked companies. Using a cross-sectional variation of the modified Jones Model (1995) to estimate discretionary accruals, this study examined 38 GLCs from 2009–2018, which consisted of 340 firm-year pair observations. Panel data regression analysis was carried out using the generalised least square method to analyse the effect of audit governance mechanisms on earnings management. The findings suggest that lower likelihood of earnings management is associated with the internal audit function. Further analysis on the proxy of internal audit measures suggests that in-house internal audit function is negatively associated with earnings management. This research would provide insights for regulators and management to strengthen in-house internal audit function in order to mitigate earnings management in Malaysian government-linked companie

Empowering the society through companies CSR agenda

Topic of socioeconomic issue is one of the most widely discussed globally as it gives effects to occupation, education, income, wealth, and place of residence of individuals. These social challenges should be addressed and resolved because to enhance individuals’ contribution to economic and social life of their society and reduce social tensions and conflicts that negatively affects country’s economic development. For this reason, in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan (2016-2020), the Malaysian Government stresses on the importance of participation of companies in empowering society to improve socioeconomic that could support equitable society. The empowerment programs aim to improve the education, quality of life and wellbeing of individuals and groups in society through reducing wealth gap, racial imbalance and promoting employment equity. One way to initiate greater involvement of the companies in socioeconomic development of the society is through CSR agenda. Specifically, the CSR agenda through empowerment activities (such as trainings programs, educational sponsorship mentorship program and learning and development programs) is believed to have a positive implication on society by way of improving wealth, education and skills of the individuals. Hence, this paper aims to develop measurement of empowerment in companies CSR agenda