This study examined the standing of the internal audit function in 30 of South Africa’s large listed companies as perceived by the chairs of their audit committees, their chief executive officers, chief financial officers, and chief operating officers, as well as the chief audit executives. The standing of the internal audit function in these 30 companies was based on the academic and professional qualifications profiles of the chief audit executives, the composition and qualifications of the internal audit staff complement, the independence of the function and the expectations that various stakeholders have of the function. The study reveals that the overall standing of the internal audit function in these 30 companies was perceived to be high. However, there are a number of concerning aspects that include the fact that most of the chief audit executives are qualified and registered South African Chartered Accountants (CA(SA)) and not holders of the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) qualification. Additional concerns are that the chief audit executives’ reporting lines are not necessarily in line with currently perceived best practices; the stakeholders surveyed for this study held diverse views of the internal audit function; and in-house internal audit functions were viewed to be of a higher standing than those of outsourced functions. This study provides the internal audit profession with a scientifically researched benchmark of their status or standing in the eyes of their stakeholders and will enable them to measure changes to their status and effectiveness within their companies.

The objective of this study is to address the gap that exists in the literature regarding quantifiable guidelines, benchmarks and consistency of applications. During the research acceptable benchmarks for the calculation or quantification of the elements linked to materiality and audit risk were found. The benchmarks are in compliance with the practices and the requirements of the ISAs and regulations. Models and benchmarks based on literature were used as a basis and modified for application in the auditing environment. The combination of literature, responses from public practitioners and experience based on best practices resulted in the development of a modified risk-based assessment model. The conclusion from the empirical study indicated that there are no defined rules or basis for calculating materiality and audit risk. The inconsistencies in responses indicate that audit firms and developer of key concepts interpret and apply the above-mentioned term different in practice. The interpretations of the relevant ISAs, appear to be conceptually correct as no major non-compliances were identified. Various instances indicated that there is a lack of guidance with regard to the quantification or qualification of benchmarks. The implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) was an event that leads to the consideration of more conservative benchmarks. The most consistent benchmark that stood the test of time was Discussion paper 6 (1984). The 30 years since the development of these benchmarks indicate that little attention has been given to one of the most complex issues in auditing. Companies within different industries are not generic and exceptions will occur where the auditor needs to apply professional judgment to accommodate the deviations. Further research is required to assist the audit professionals and students in the development of consistent benchmarks to increase the reputation of the profession. The conclusion drawn from this study is that audit materiality and audit risk has a significant impact on the audit process as even the audit report is influenced by proper audit planning and guidelines to support the auditor in audits. / MCom (Accountancy), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

This thesis examines the empirical relationship between a set of board characteristics (i.e. independence, diligence and expertise), audit committee (existence, characteristics and status within the board), and audit fees in a sample of Nasdaq OMX Stockholm-listed companies. The author investigates the relationship using a sample of 187 company-year observations for year 2011. Through multivariate regression analysis, the author found that more independent boards are associated with lower audit fees, while more expert boards and audit committee existence are associated with higher audit fees at the conventional levels. Results as such suggest that board independence, expertise and audit committee existence can influence the demand for audit coverage. Through further analyzing a subsample of 116 companies with audit committees, the author additionally found that more audit committee meetings are associated with higher audit fees, while wholly independent audit committees and an increase in the relative size of audit committee to nomination committee are associated with lower audit fees at the conventional levels. These findings are supportive for the Swedish regulatory requirement of adopting audit committees in the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm-listed companies effective from 2009 and have implications for enhancing board- and audit committee effectiveness in the Swedish listed companies.

The thesis titled Audit in system of firm quality is focused on acquiring basic knowledge and skills associated with the term audit, its definition, defining the principle and necessity in the context of integration into the company's organizational structure. It presents requirements on the auditor itself, the working methods used in the audit activities and claims on the processing of the audit report. Important is also familiarization with the actual quality management system, which is clearly becoming an important tool to obtain a competitive advantage on the market. Due to disagreement with the publication of the monitored entity's trade name, in terms of this thesis the author described the organization as the company D. By analysis of outcomes related to the implementation of internal audit quality management system were identified possible bottlenecks of the auditees. During the reporting period was found that approx. 30% of nonconformities is still repeating from previous audits, it clearly testifies to inefficient solution of measures for eliminating identified nonconformities. Based on these findings was performed an analysis of the causes and effects associated with the occurrence of recurrent nonconformities, where the most important causes are team identified. These causes in terms of importance were identified by Pareto analysis regarding to the process itself (the missing steps, identifying the beginning and the end, the distribution of nonconformities according to the importance, etc.). Subsequently was performed drafting of more efficient process model suitable for effective implementation of audits in system of firm quality. In a use of change management in the organization was the new process model put into practice, including performance of assessment, approval, implementation, verification and validation tasks. The benefit of this thesis is mainly the possible application of the modified process model of audit in system of firm quality, which allows rapid optimization of business processes and procedures.

Diploma thesis deals with the topic of external audit of IT services outsourcing and is focused especially on application, infrastructure and support services. The thesis describes audit as an efficient tool for evaluation of third party services and defines its position in quality management inside an organization. Furthermore the thesis deals with differences in project lifecycle as described in PMBOK framework and IT Assurance Guide. The second part of the thesis describes main issues of outsourcing contracts in condition of the Czech Republic and offers a solid overview of solving options. In the last part of the thesis all the described issues are demonstrated on a real case study from the government environment in the Czech Republic.

Firstly, the word KAIZEN is analysed in a theoretical part of this Master Thesis and the individual structures in organizations are described in next chapter. The requirements of relevant standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, OHSAS 18001) are introduces, too. An audit, its types, sorts and processes of it are explained at the end of the theoretical part. A practical part contains “A project university - certifying authority – organisation”. The project deals with student´s involvement into the internal audits of selected organizations and gaining knowledge of audit processes. The project deals with competence evaluation of the internal audits´ implementation, too.

The dissertation consists of three studies examining three different regulatory issues that affect the auditing profession. The first study has two main foci. First, the study investigates the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on the Big 4 fee premium. Second, the study investigates the relationship between the size of an audit client and annual fee change. The results show that in the post-SOX environment, clients of non-Big 4 firms have experienced greater increases in audit fees than the clients of the Big 4 firms, resulting in a diminishing Big 4 premium. This is consistent with the notion that non-Big 4 clients had to make significant adjustments to meet post-SOX quality requirements by increasing their effort (and consequently audit fees). The results also show audit firms’ large clients experience the largest percentage increase in audit fees. This is consistent with the theoretical view of consumer surplus, where the large clients, with more resources, have greater levels of consumer surplus, which is being captured by the audit firms. The study contributes to our understanding of the impact of SOX on audit fee premium and the economics of audit market competition in different client segments. The second study is focused on three main areas: 1) the relationship between audit fees and audit market concentration on a country level; 2) the effect of a country’s litigation regime on the relationship between audit fees and market concentration and 3) the inter-relations between competition, fees, and quality in the market for audit services. The study is motivated by the current debate in the United States and the European Union about the possible problems associated with the current oligopolistic structure of the audit market. The contribution of this study lies in the fact that it provides a multi-national empirical investigation of the audit competition-fee relationship, and examination of how country-level fees affect the competitionquality relationship, while controlling for country level factors. Results show a negative iv relationship between country-level market concentration and audit fees but only in highly litigious countries, suggesting that the firms are able to obtain economies of scale in more concentrated markets and are willing to pass savings down to their clients. However this relationship only holds for the clients of the Big N firms. Analysis of audit quality suggests that audit quality is higher in more concentrated markets but mediation analysis did not show that the fees mediate the relationship between audit quality and market concentration. The third study addresses current regulatory debate about the responsibility of the principal auditor in the group audit environment. Current United States standards allow the principal auditor to disavow responsibility for parts of the audit which were performed by a third party auditor by referencing them in the auditor’s opinion and then indicating the part of the audit which was performed by them. This disclaimer of responsibility is prohibited under the international auditing standards, which require the principal auditor to be responsible for the entire group audit. Specifically, this study examines 1) audit quality implications related to such opinions, and 2) the relationship between having a shared opinion and audit fees. The results show that the audit quality is significantly lower for the firms whose audit opinion referenced a third party auditor. The results also provide some evidence that audit fees are lower in shared responsibility situations.

This study aims to better understand factors associated with audit office closures and how the risk of office closure relates to audit outcomes, including audit quality and fees. Factors associated with office closure include small office size, lower office growth, proximity to regulators, unfavorable local economic changes, client losses, and lack of recent local office closures. The main analysis does not find evidence of a relationship between closure risk and audit quality but suggests that offices with a higher closure risk charge higher audit fees per client compared to offices with lower closure risk. Results also suggest that clients who change audit firms following closure of their auditor's office enjoy higher quality and lower fees compared to those clients who change offices but remain with the same firm following closure. These audit quality results cannot be explained by clients switching to Big 4 auditors, industry specialists, or to more geographically proximate offices. Instead, these results suggest a fresh look benefit by the new audit firm. Additionally, the audit fee discount enjoyed by these clients diminishes over time as the fees for these clients increase more quickly than for those clients that change offices following closure. / Doctor of Philosophy / This study aims to better understand factors associated with audit firm office closures and how the risk of closure for non-closed offices relates to audit outcomes, including audit quality and fees. Factors associated with office closure include small office size, lower office growth, proximity to regulators, unfavorable local economic changes, client losses, and lack of recent local office closures. The main analysis does not find evidence of a relationship between closure risk and audit quality but suggests that offices with a higher closure risk charge higher audit fees per client compared to offices with lower closure risk. Results also suggest that clients who change audit firms following closure of their auditor's office enjoy higher quality and lower fees compared to those clients who change offices but remain with the same firm following closure.

Detta examensarbete har utförts i samarbete med Sweco Systems i Umeå. Uppdraget var att ge en insikt i vad den nya lagen om energikartläggningar innebär för företag. För att förtydliga vad en energikartläggning är har en fallstudie utförts i form av en energikartläggning på Öppen gemenskaps verksamhetslokaler i Umeå.Studien kring hur stora företag tänker kring den nya lagen om energikartläggningar har varit utformad med telefonintervjuer av 11 stycken företag. Företagen har både fått omfattande och korta frågor som har sammanställts och resulterat i diagram och förklarande text. Det har visat sig att företagen är positiva till den nya lagen men att de flesta sedan innan redan arbetar med energieffektivisering. 80 % av de företag som sedan tidigare hade en uttalad strategi för energieffektivisering upplevde att energieffektiviseringsarbetet var högt prioriterat. Inget av de företagen som sa att de hade en energieffektiviseringsstrategi upplevde att den var lågt prioriterad. En majoritet upplevde att de fått tillräcklig information om vad lagen innebär för dem och ungefär 75 % av de tillfrågade företagen trodde att de skulle ha nytta av att göra en kartläggning. 73 % av de intervjuade företagen trodde att den nya lagen kommer minska energianvändningen i Sverige.För att visa mer konkret på vad lagen om energikartläggningar handlar om har en case-study utförts i form en energikartläggning. Denna kartläggning utfördes på en fastighet i centrala Umeå och mynnade ut i diagram över energiflöden och några åtgärdsförslag som fastighetsägarna kan följa för att minska sin energianvändning. Energikartläggningen omfattade tre byggnader som såg olika ut och där det bedrevs olika verksamheter. Energibalansberäkningar utfördes både separat för byggnaderna och för hela fastigheten ihopslaget. För alla byggnader tillsammans visade det sig att transmissionsförlusterna överlägset stod för den största energianvändningen, sedan stod förlusterna för ventilation, el som inte tillgodoser byggnaderna med värme, ofrivillig ventilation och tappvarmvatten. Den tillförda energin kom från fjärrvärme, el och personvärme. / This study has been developed in cooperation with Sweco Systems in Umeå. The aim of the assignment was to give insight into the new law of energy audit, and its consequences for big companies. To clarify what an energy audit is, a case study in the shape of an energy audit has been performed at the facilities of Öppen Gemenskaps in Umeå. A number of 11 big companies were interviewed to evaluate their thoughts and reactions about the new law of energy audit. The companies answered both comprehensive and concise questions, the answers of which have been processed into charts and explanatory writing.It has been made evident that companies are positive towards the new law, and that most companies are in fact already working with energy efficiency. Out of the companies that since earlier has had a clear strategy for energy efficiency, a total of 80% felt that the work around energy efficiency has a high priority. None felt that it has low priority. A majority experienced that they were sufficiently informed of what the law will entail, and approximately 75% of the interviewed companies believed that they would benefit from making an energy audit. Out of the interviewed companies, 73% believed that the new law will lower energy usage in Sweden.The energy audit comprised three different looking buildings, which accommodate different kinds of businesses. Energy flows was calculated, both separately for each building and for the entire property. In the calculations for the entire property, it was evident that the transmission losses stands for a majority of the energy usage. Then came the ventilation, non-heating electricity, accidental ventilation and hot tap water. The added energy comes from district heating, electricity and human heat.

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