Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:32:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sandra Regina Siqueira de Sena.pdf: 1581417 bytes, checksum: 429ca69c5f05c2e3fb347fdd71aa9f91 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-11-04 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The primary goal of this study is to verify whether there have been any changes in the reports issued by independent auditors after the adoption of Act Number 11638/2007. The sample is composed of non-financial listed companies whose shares are traded on the Bovespa (São Paulo Stock Exchange) with released Financial Statements in the period between 2006 and 2009, totaling 449 companies with 1.796 observations, whose data was extracted from the database of the CVM (Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission). The auditors reports were analyzed as divided among the Big Four auditing firms, i.e., Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu;Ernst & Young; PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG, and the Non Big Four representing the other auditing firms. The conclusion was that the contents of the auditors reports maintained the same standards along the four fiscal years considering the following types of reports:unqualified; qualified; disclaimer of opinion and adverse opinion. Particular attention was given to the utilization of emphasis paragraphs which may be found in unqualified and qualified reports pointing out that the observations therein contained referred several times to uncertainties which would not have had any impact on the financial statements. It was also identified that the majority of the open capital companies chose to hire the Big Four during the period analyzed, moreover, the Non Big Four appeared to be more conservative, because they presented a significantly higher level of observations as compared with the Big Four.The collected data suggested that the Non Big Four have greater independence in the development of their auditing work, expressing their opinion in a more forceful manner, even if unfavorable to the audited company. However, we must question whether the Big Four issue almost all their opinions as unqualified because the companies hiring them are large corporations and, consequently, have more strict requirements through their audit committees with the necessary internal controls, or if the Big Four are, apparently, more dependent on their contracting companies thus suffering pressure to issue unqualified opinion reports due to agency conflicts, since the hiring company is responsible for the fees paid to the audit firms. / O presente estudo teve como objetivo principal verificar se houve alteração nos pareceres emitidos pelas auditorias independentes após adoção da Lei 11.638/2007. A amostra foi composta por companhias abertas, não financeiras, com ações negociadas na Bovespa, as quais apresentaram Demonstrações Contábeis no período de 2006 a 2009, totalizando 449 empresas geradoras de 1.796 observações, cujos dados foram extraídos do banco de dados da CVM Comissão de Valores Mobiliários. Foi realizada uma análise de conteúdo nos pareceres de auditoria, segregados entre firmas de auditoria Big Four, ou seja, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu; Ernst & Young; PricewaterhouseCoopers e KPMG, e Non Big Four, que representaram as outras empresas de auditoria. Constatou-se que o conteúdo dos pareceres de auditoria manteve o mesmo padrão ao longo dos quatro exercícios analisados, considerando os tipos de pareceres: sem ressalvas; com ressalvas; com abstenção de opinião e com parecer adverso. Observou-se vasta utilização dos parágrafos de ênfase, que podem constar em pareceres com, ou sem ressalvas, destacando que as observações neles contidas se referiam muitas vezes a incertezas que não trariam impacto nas demonstrações contábeis. Identificouse,também, que a maioria das companhias abertas optou pela contratação das Big Four durante o período analisado, e, ainda, que as firmas de auditoria Non Big Four se mostraram mais conservadoras, pois apresentaram um nível de observações em seus pareceres, significativamente, superior as das Big Four. Os dados sugerem que as Non Big Four têm mais independência na realização do trabalho de auditoria, pois expressaram sua opinião de forma mais contundente ainda que desfavorável à companhia auditada. No entanto,vale questionar se as Big Four emitem quase a totalidade de seus pareceres sem ressalva,porque as companhias que as contratam são grandes corporações e, consequentemente,possuem um regime de governança mais rigoroso através da existência de comitê de auditoria com os devidos controles internos, ou se as Big Four têm, aparentemente, maior dependência das companhias que as contratam e sofrem pressão para que seus pareceres sejam emitidos sem ressalvas devido ao conflito de agência, já que a companhia contratante é responsável pelos honorários das firmas de auditoria.

Abstract The only observable outcome of the audit process is normally the issued audit report, which, at least in its standard form, does not contain much information about audit quality (Balsam et al. 2003). Auditor quality is multidimensional and inherently unobservable, and there is no single auditor characteristic that can be used as a proxy for it. In the absence of direct measures for quality, audit consumers must assess the quality by using quality surrogates, or the overall reputation of an auditor (e.g. Shapiro 1983, Riley 2001). The purpose of this dissertation is to enhance our understanding of the determinants and implications of quality-differentiated audits through four inter-related essays. The findings of the essays shed light on the various ways in which client firms strive to signal high audit and consequent earnings quality. From the supply-side perspective, the essays of this dissertation provide evidence how some (individual) auditors have been able to establish a reputation higher than the generic reputation. Importantly, this dissertation adds to the ongoing debate about the regulator changes and initiatives in the European Union and the U.S.A. requiring disclosure of engagement partner identity. The rationale behind such a requirement is that it could bring within investors’ reach greater transparency and accountability in the auditing process thereby helping to restore investor confidence in the capital markets. Consistent with this rationale, the results of this dissertation support the view that audit markets (and/or firm insiders) infer audit quality, at least to some extent, from the characteristics of the individual audit partner in charge.

The South African Constitution ensures the right to adequate water, health services and a healthy environment (Government Gazette, 1996: 1251, 1255). Associated legislation and national strategies require that water resources and water services are rendered in a sustainable manner to ensure the rights enshrined in the Constitution are realised (Trialogue, 2010: 34; Government Gazette, 1998(c):11; Department of Water Affairs (DWA), 2003:9). South Africa is the 30th driest country in the world (DWA, 2013: iii), has impounded most of its surface water resources and has utilised 40 percent of the groundwater resource with remaining groundwater water quality uncertain (DWA, 2013:6-7). Despite achieving the basic water and sanitation Millennium Development Goals approximately 2.2 million and 4.5 million households still require access to basic services respectively (DWA, 2013:28-29). South Africa’s ten water boards play a key role in bulk water service provision. They supply 57 percent of the countries domestic water supply (DWA, 2013:19) and are required to provide sustainable water services (Government Gazette, 1997:35). The Department of Water Affairs (Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) as of June 2014) is mandated to monitor the performance of water boards and monitors of water boards through a Share Holders Compact (SHC) (Government Gazette, 1997: 50). The aim of the research is to achieve the following objectives: 1. Describe best practice for sustainability monitoring frameworks for water services. 2. Outline South Africa’s water services mandatory and voluntary requirements with regards to sustainability monitoring. 3. Evaluate South Africa’s current water services performance monitoring framework for water boards against findings from goals one and two. 4. Develop an improved framework for assessing South African water board’s performance in their compliance and sustainability journey. 5. Demonstrate the improved framework functionality with a sample of water boards audited performance data from the 2012/13 financial year. A qualitative normative theory evaluation research method was utilised to achieve first three objectives of the research. The objectives to first understand current best practice for sustainability monitoring frameworks and the mandatory requirements for water services sustainability monitoring frameworks in South Africa was achieved via an extensive literature review. The evaluation research method was used where South Africa’s current water services monitoring framework for water boards was evaluated for its adequacy to monitor sustainability compared with legislated requirements, national and international best practices (Hall et al, 2004: 55). Data collection for the evaluation research was sourced via documentation analysis. The 2012/13 water board audited annual reports, relevant national water services legislation, national and global water service sustainability monitoring best practices were critically reviewed. The review yielded a “thick description” of sustainability performance monitoring framework requirements that was used to evaluate the SHC (Holliday, 2002: 79). Despite the mandatory participation requirement for successful sustainability performance monitoring being met, the SHC was found to have inadequate aspects. It lacks an outcomes based approach, does not include environmental indicators, does not allow water board sustainability performance comparison and cannot indicate where individual water boards are on their sustainability journey. An improved sustainability performance monitoring framework for South African water boards is therefore proposed. This was developed with the assistance of an expert focus group drawn from multiple disciplines and organizations relevant to water board sustainability (Litosseliti, 2003: 8 and Hall et al, 2004: 51). The functionality of the framework is then demonstrated using 2012/13 audited performance data sourced from the annual reports of Overberg, Amatola, Rand and Umgeni Water boards. The proposed Water Services Sustainability Monitoring Framework (WSSMF) quantifies performance in terms of 10 water utility outcomes that are measured with 88 performance indicators that encompass the financial, social, environmental and governance dimensions of sustainability. The WSSMF demonstrated that the legislated intentions and best practice recommendations can be incorporated into an improved version of the SHC. Further refinement of the WSSMF is required. In depth engagement with DWS and all the water boards would promote the refinement of the indicator set, performance thresholds for indicators and indicator weighting. Further testing through a pilot project initiative would allow the WSSMF to be developed into a robust and adequate sustainability performance monitoring framework for South African water boards (Rametsteiner et al, 2011: 64; Muga and Mihelcic, 2008: 438; McAlphine and Birnie, 2005: 247 and van Leeuwen et al, 2012: 2192).

The concept of accountability has grown to become an integral part of a broader political and socio-economic transformation. Closely associated to it is the concept of "auditing" which has established itself as a main driving force of accountability and a core means of delivering it. The extent of the rise and expansion of "auditing" has subsequently come to influence every aspect of modern life and this has led to a situation in which practices have had to adapt to the principles of "auditing" processes. Auditing has become prevalent in both the public and private spheres and this impact has far reaching consequences. The concept of "auditing" is evident in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and is central to its review process. This thesis focuses on the concept of "auditing" in order to illustrate how the APRM has borrowed and applied insights from other disciplinary practices so as to enhance an understanding of accountability and transparency as features of "good governance" and to explicate how these concepts are conceived within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). It also clarifies the relationship that exists between "peer review" and "auditing" and argues that rather than being considered as two poles marked by distance from each other "auditing" and "peer review" are closely related and mutually constitutive.

Investment managers are entrusted with clients assets and should act with due care and diligence when dealing with it. The regulation of investment managers does not preclude the possibility that they can defraud their clients. The question posed by this research is whether the regulator can as part of its risk-based supervision methodology apply a fraud auditing approach to identify possible investment fraud schemes. The regulatory mandate and powers to pro-actively detect fraud is considered as well as the changes required to the regulator’s methodologies. / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Accounting / unrestricted

This thesis focuses on the analysis of environmental audit instruments in economic terms. It is primarily aimed at assessing the effectiveness of this tool for entrepreneurs. The first stage of work is focused on the concept and definition of environmental audit and its history. This study then reports an analysis of benefits and costs of the environmental management system which is a prerequisite for setting auditing ISO 14001 and EMAS. The practical part of this thesis contains two case studies of specific examples of audits based on ISO certification.

This thesis deals with trucking companies' websites auditing. The first chapter of a theoretical part deals with up to date market condition of this branch of business, together with possibilities of the future development. The theoretical part of this thesis acquaints reader with technological basis of web design and its current trends. There is a methodology of auditing designed and websites sample introduced in the conclusion. A practical part contains one detailed audit example and the rest of the other websites is audited more briefly. There is a results interpretation in the conclusion. Also there are steps that can lead to the elimination of founded imperfections. The aim of this thesis is to test quality of some sample websites of trucking companies that leads to recognition of how important these websites are for their owners. A main method used is a comparison of every website's state and designed methodic. Results of this research are statistically evaluated. The main contribution of this thesis is introduction of the most frequent imperfections, together with deciding how important these websites are for their owners.

This thesis explores current and future possible uses of ICT in financial reporting, describes the properties, usage and implementation of EDI and XBRL, describes the concept of online reporting and continuous auditing, introduces the area of artificial intelligence and expert systems and their application in accounting and auditing, describes development and application of FRAANK for extraction of financial data from EDGAR repository, describes the implementation of continuous auditing in Siemens and finally states the possible reasons, why the technologies are not used to their full potential.

This thesis called "The audit from the perspective of the audited entity" is focused on the audit, but from a different point of view than most of the specialized publications about audit. It is possible to divide the thesis into two parts. In the theoretical part, there is explained the issue of audit from the historical view, which is followed up with the legislation and professional treatment. Briefly there are mentioned the International Standards On Auditing, that have gradually replaced nowadays invalid Czech Auditing Directives. At the end of the theoretical part, the whole audit procedure is processed in details. The main emphasis is put on the moments, which affected the audited entity in the meaning that it is necessary its active cooperation with auditor, for example communication with auditor during the contract for audit, providing of various background materials for audit or negotiations of management with auditors during the audit. In the second, practice, part of this thesis the theory is put into practice in the real existed entity NÁBYTEK a.s.. The main goal is to map the audit of NÁBYTEK a.s. from the perspective of the audited entity, not from the view of auditor or auditor's company.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Master of Accounting degree, Faculty of Accounting and Informatics, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Financial accountability, financial control and financial reporting are the three main elements that determine the performance of the municipality. An analysis had to be made on each of these elements to find any limitations and gaps that negatively impact on the performance of the organisation. The aim of the study was to evaluate financial accountability, financial control and financial reporting of Umtshezi Municipality. The study was a census study and it was quantitative, descriptive and cross sectional in nature. The target population comprised of 45 employees from the finance department which was divided into five units, namely, Supply Chain Management, Expenditure, Asset/Fleet, Revenue and Budget. The IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 was used to determine statistical results. The findings of the study discovered that officials lack educational qualifications and adequate understanding of the MFMA. The respondents also indicated that there was political influence affecting administration within the municipality. The study recommended that the municipality should provide funds to train employees. National Treasury should conduct consistent reviews on the implementation of the MFMA. The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) should intervene to protect the administration from political threats. / M