Keberkesanan sistem agihan zakat: Suatu pandangan awal

Isu agihan zakat sering menjadi perhatian ramai. Masyarakat sering mempersoalkan mengenai lebihan berjuta-juta ringgit wang zakat yang tidak diagihkan kepada asnaf. Lebihan wang zakat ini bertambah dengan banyaknya dari setahun ke setahun. Timbul beberapa persoalan mengenai keberkesanan agihan zakat pada masa sekarang. Berapakah jumlah kutipan dan berapa banyak kutipan ini diagihkan kepada asnaf yang layak? Golongan asnaf manakah yang merupakan penerima terbanyak wang zakat? Apakah faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi keberkesanan pengurusan agihan zakat? Justeru, kertas kerja ini bertujuan membincangkan secara terperinci mengenai persoalan di atas dan di akhir kertas kerja ini, dicadangkan beberapa pendekatan bagi merungkai persoalan-persoalan ini

Zakat institution’s governance in Malaysia : zakat payers’ perspective

Zakat payers’ confidence in zakat institutions is not at a satisfactory level although zakat collection increases every year. The issue of low public confidence is due to the weakness in the zakat institution’s governance. This study tried to explore the phenomena in the zakat institution’s governance and wished to accomplish two main objectives. The first objective was to identify the constitution of the zakat institution’s governance, while, the second objective was to examine the magnitude of the variables in the zakat institution’s governance. In this study, factors that constitute the zakat institution’s governance are discussed from the perspective of the stakeholder theory and the agency theory. The survey method was used for data collection. 431 questionnaires were fit to be analyzed using the exploratory factor analysis and the confirmatory factor analysis after passing the screening and purification process. This study found nine variables that constitute the zakat institution’s governance to address the first objective, while the second objective was addressed when these variables that were really strong in terms of reliability and validity were arranged according to their magnitude of strength. These variables were information technology (0.783), law (0.780), accountability (0.713), service quality (0.658), religiosity (0.649), participation (0.642), enforcement (0.607), audit committee independence (0.581) and audit committee diligence (0.514). The implications of this study contribute to the literature by enriching discussions on the zakat institution’s governance. Thus, understanding of the zakat institution’s governance can be improved since the findings are based on empirical evidence. Implications to the theory are in terms of the usage of the stakeholder theory and the agency theory in the zakat environment where previously these theories were only applicable in the corporate environment. This reinforces the application of these theories in environments of nonprofit organizations. These findings also contribute to zakat institutions by presenting the important factors that can assist in developing strategies to put zakat institution’s governance at the highest level

An examination on audit tenure, auditor size, independence of audit committee and the issuance of going concern opinion

The issue of audit tenure has been discussed since four decades age. Nowadays, due to the recent corporate scandals in United States, the issue is discussed together with auditor independence that led to companies’ demise. Mandatory audit rotation debates come from the arguments that long audit tenure would create costly relationship between auditors and clients and thus would lead to audit failure such as in the case of bankruptcy. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the situation in Malaysia whereby no empirical study using archival data has been done. Specifically, the current study examines the impact of audit tenure on the issuance of going concern opinion. The result shows that the variable of audit tenure is positively significant in determining going concern opinion. Our findings also pointed that if a client never changed its auditor since listing, there is a tendency to issue a clean opinion though the client suffers apparent financial problems. Therefore, it can be said that, “auditor change would do well, but forcing an unrealistic auditor rotation might not yield what it hopes for”. For the benefit of auditing profession, we echo the importance of self-regulation and Laissez-faire practice in Malaysia as a better alternative than a mandatory auditor rotation. Besides, the results show no significant impact of Big five audit firms and independence of audit committee on auditor going concern opinion. Further sensitivity analyses show that the results are robust to different measurements

The effect of audit firm tenure and audit firm switching on auditor reporting quality: The case of going concern opinion

The issue of audit tenure has been discussed since four decades age. Nowadays, due to the recent corporate scandals in the United States, the issue is discussed together with auditor independence that led to companies’ demise. Mandatory audit rotation debates come from the arguments that long audit tenure would create cosy relationship between auditors and clients and thus would lead to audit reporting failure such as in the case of bankruptcy. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the situation in Malaysia whereby no empirical study using archival data has been done Specifically, the current study examines the impact of audit tenure on the issuance of going concern opinion. The result shows that audit firm tenure is positively significant in determining going concern opinion. Our findings also pointed that if a client never changed its auditor since listing, there is a tendency to issue a clean opinion though the client suffers apparent financial problems. Therefore, it can be said that, “auditor change would do well, but forcing an unrealistic auditor rotation might not yield what it hopes for”. For the benefit of auditing profession, we echo the importance of self-regulation and Laissez-faire practice in Malaysia as a better alternative than a mandatory auditor rotation. Further sensitivity analyses show that the results are robust to different measurements

Laissez-faire or mandatory auditor rotation: The case of audit firm tenure and audit firm switching

The issue of audit tenure has been discussed since four decades age. Nowadays, due to the recent corporate scandals in the United States, the issue is discussed together with auditor independence that led to companies’ demise. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the situation in Malaysia whereby no empirical study using archival data has been done. There are two major findings. First, the variable of audit firm tenure is positively significant relationship with going concern opinion. Second, when a client never changes its auditor since became a public listed company; there is a tendency to issue a clean opinion though the client suffers apparent financial problems. This implies that, “auditor change would do well, but forcing an unrealistic auditor rotation might not yield what it hopes for”. Therefore, we echo the importance of self-regulation and Laissez-faire practice in Malaysia as a better alternative than a mandatory auditor rotation

Ketelusan di dalam tadbir urus institusi zakat

Isu keyakinan masyarakat Islam yang rendah terhadap institusi zakat agak membimbangkan. Tadbir urus zakat yang tidak telus didakwa sebagai satu daripada faktor penyumbang terhadap permasalahan yang dihadapi. Justeru itu, kajian ini berhasrat untuk mengenal pasti pembentukan tadbir urus zakat yang baik dengan memberi fokus kepada ketelusan untuk menangani isu yang wujud. Setakat ini, kajian mengenai ketelusan tadbir urus institusi zakat tidak dijalankan secara mendalam dan ini memberi ruang untuk kertas ini memenuhi jurang yang ada. Kertas ini berbentuk konseptual di mana ianya akan mengulas dan membincangkan artikel-artikel yang berkaitan dengan ketelusan, tadbir urus dan zakat. Kemudiannya satu model konseptual akan dibangunkan sebagai cadangan penambahbaikan untuk institusi zakat. Kertas ini dapat memberikan maklumat tambahan kepada institusi zakat dan membantu institusi tersebut untuk menangani isu keyakinan masyarakat Islam yang rendah. Ini penting agar objektif zakat untuk menegakkan keadilan ekonomi dan sosial dapat dicapai. Kajian ini seterusnya bakal mencetus kajian empirikal di masa hadapan yang berkaitan dengan elemen ketelusan. Ia juga bertindak sebagai satu usaha untuk mengimarahkan penyelidikan di dalam bidang zakat. Hasil penemuan ini adalah relevan dan terpakai kepada Malaysia dan negara¬negara Islam yang lain

Gelagat kepatuhan zakat perniagaan: Aplikasi teori tindakan beralasan

Sambutan peniaga terhadap pembayaran zakat perniagaan kepada pejabat zakat adalah amat mendukacitakan. Beberapa laporan dan kajian melaporkan masih ramai peniaga tidak mempedulikan peraturan zakat negeri yang menghendaki zakat dibayar kepada Baitulmal atau amil yang dilantik. Situasi ini mencetuskan fenomena menarik mengenai gelagat kepatuhan zakat perniagaan. Secara khusus, masih belum terdapat literatur yang boleh menjelaskan fenomena tersebut. Justeru, kajian ini cuba untuk menjelaskan persoalan mengenai aras kepatuhan zakat perniagaan yang rendah. Teori Tindakan Beralasan (Theory of Reasoned Action) diaplikasikan bagi melihat peranan angkubah sikap dan persepsi sosial terhadap gelagat kepatuhan zakat perniagaan. Keputusan kajian ke atas 108 peniaga sekitar negeri Perlis mendapati bahawa niat merupakan penentu terdekat gelagat kepatuhan zakat perniagaan. Angkubah niat pula dipengaruhi oleh sikap dan pengaruh sosial seperti suami/isteri dan keluarga. Model kajian yang berasaskan teori ini dapat menerangkan sebanyak 44% varian ke atas niat gelagat, manakala 16% ke atas gelagat kepatuhan zakat perniagaan. Implikasi terhadap teori dan juga kepada pembuat dasar turut dibincangkan

The relationship between performance and graphic presentation in unit trusts' annual reports: Malaysian evidence

This study investigates the use and abuse of graphs in the annual reports of unit trust companies.It is found that 78% of companies use graphs and that 2.1 is the mean number of graphs per graph-using companies.The most commonly graphed financial variables are asset allocation, performance, investment and fund size.Line and pie graphs are more popular than bar and column.Thus, in contrast to previous studies of graphs in annual reports, no relationship is found between performance and graphic presentation in unit trusts’ annual reports.The result may suggest that graphic presentation in unit trust’s annual report is normally dependent on the discretion of company’s management