Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / The study focused on financial reporting in the public sector with the view to understanding the impact of the present financial management system in South Africa is adding value to the measurable outcomes-based objective process as required by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). The study determines the role of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) in financial reporting, in relation to the business plan (strategy) and measurable outcomes and results of the Department of Community Safety. The primary objective of this study was to perform an assessment of financial reporting and its effectiveness in terms of the PFMA as the legislative framework and the MTEF as a financial management tool. The secondary objectives were to: (1) to provide a theoretical perspective of public financial management and reporting in government; (2) to provide an verview of policies, legislation and strategies; (3) to record and develop a case study of financial reporting in the Western Cape Provincial Government within the Department of Community Safety (WCPG); (4) to present the research findings on financial management, and (5), to apply the theoretical framework to the case study in order to develop findings. / South Africa

Ongoing debates within the professional and academic communities have raised a number of questions specific to the international audit market. This dissertation consists of three related essays that address such issues. First, I examine whether the propensity to switch between auditors of different sizes (i.e., Big 4 versus non-Big 4) changes as adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) becomes a more common phenomenon, arguing that smaller auditors have an opportunity to invest in necessary skills and training needed to enter this market. Findings suggest that clients are relatively less (more) likely to switch to (away from) a Big 4 auditor if the client’s adoption of IFRS occurs in more recent years. In the second essay, I draw on these inferences and test whether the change in audit fees in the year of IFRS adoption changes over time. As the market becomes less concentrated, larger auditors becomes less able to demand a premium for their services. Consistent with my arguments, results suggest that the change in audit service fees declines over time, although this effect seems concentrated among the Big 4. I also find that this effect is partially attributable to a differential effect of the auditors’ experience in pricing audit services related to IFRS based on the period in which adoption occurs. The results of these two essays offer important implications to policy debates on the costs and benefits of IFRS adoption. In the third essay, I differentiate Big 4 auditors into three classifications—Parent firms, Brand Name affiliates, and Local affiliates—and test for differences in audit fee premiums (relative to non-Big 4 auditors) and audit quality. Results suggest that there is significant heterogeneity between the three classifications based on both of these characteristics, which is an important consideration for future research. Overall, this dissertation provides additional insights into a variety of aspects of the global audit market.

The introduction of my diploma work concentrates on historical development of audit, especially that one in Great Britain.It depicts the legislative adjusting the audit and the novelties of the new Law about auditors which started to be in force in April 2009. The theoretial part captures the account specificities of sport clubs and their occurrence in the world.The auditor's attitude is indicated in the next part focused on speicific problems.The practical part presents the audit of a sport club. A special attention is drawn on a variety of specificities and the auditor's attitude. My diploma work should help the auditor's assistants get familiar with the problems of sport clubs as this topic has seldom beeen published.

The thesis deals with the audit of the financial statement. Solves the characteristics and evolution of the audit, as well as legislation under which an entity must follow when preparing financial statement. Explains which demands are placed on the person performing the audit. Explains the audit procedures from operations before accepting the order to release the auditor's report. The practical part deals with the real audit of financial statement of selected company.

The diploma thesis focuses on professions of external and internal auditors. The aim of the thesis is to describe the professional liability of studied professional occupations. This issue is solved from the perspective of the Czech Republic. In the first part the thesis characterizes auditing activities and the Chamber of Auditors of the Czech Republic. It describes requirements of the profession of external auditor and focuses on his workflows. It also characterizes the internal audit and the Czech Institute of Internal Auditors. The thesis describes requirements of the profession of internal auditor and focuses on his workflows. The main part of the thesis defines the professional liability of the external and internal auditors and separately describes the criminal liability of auditors. The last part of the thesis contains a comparison of the discovered information and it also describes selected practical examples of violation of the professional liability of auditors.

This thesis selects a topic of ethics and morality, namely of their meaning, individual features and also their usage in the world of finance among professional accountants and auditors. It is focused mainly on present state however a historical background is also included. The objective of this thesis is to introduce both selected professions so the reader will be able to self-assess sufficiency and deficiencies of ethical standards and customs of modern ethics. The thesis also compares ethical regulations of these professions through its description. Considerable attention is also devoted to simple analysis of ethical behavior, its quality and support in the most globally integrated professional services organizations.

Diploma thesis is focused on the profession of auditors, accountants and tax advisers. Introductory chapters are devoted to the basic characteristics of professions, prerequisite for the activity in this area and by law, relating to the issue. The main goal of this thesis is to describe the professional responsibility of auditors, accountants and tax advisers, and its relation to the infringement. Part of the thesis are selected court rulings on professional responsibility. Finally, it is also dedicated to the comparison of observed professions.

One of the main objectives of this thesis is to present the issue of internal audit and define its corresponding place in the management of an organization. Furthermore, the goal of this thesis is to highlight the fact that human resources are one of the key success factors of an organization and, therefore, to highlight the need for a personnel audit. Last but not least objective of thesis is to create a basic idea about how personnel audit is done. The target area of this diploma thesis is the government, particularly local government. This corresponds with the structure of the thesis which is initially focused on the area of internal audit, namely in the personnel audit with its specifications applicable to the public sector. Consequently the thesis introduces the local government of Slovak Republic. Finally selected methods used in personnel audit are processed and applied directly to the Municipality of Martin.

The thesis deals with the verification of the financial statements and annual reports. The aim of the thesis is to characterize the procedures that the auditor performs an audit of financial statements and describe the application of these procedures to specific financial statements of the particular company. The theoretical part of the thesis defines the concept of audit, lists its objectives, functions and legal and professional regulation. The practical part is devoted to auditing procedures, both generally and in terms of application to specific financial statements. The thesis includes annexes that contain the particular company financial statements and auditor's report.

In my dissertation, I examine factors associated with firms’ submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification and test if shareholder ratification of auditor selection is associated with the extent of price competition in the audit market (as measured by audit fees) and audit quality (as measured by clients’ earnings management). The dissertation is motivated from the recent recommendation of the U.S. Treasury’s Advisory Committee on Auditing Profession (ACAP) regarding the submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification votes. The ACAP suggests that this practice may improve the competition in the audit market; yet, there is no empirical evidence supporting the ACAP’s recommendation. My dissertation attempts to fill the gap in the literature on an issue of current interest to the auditing profession. I find that firm size, CEO-Chair duality, insider ownership and institutional ownership are associated with the submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification vote. However, I do not find an association between audit committee variables and the submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification vote. The second essay investigates the association between auditor ratification and audit fees. Audit fees are higher in firms that submit auditor selection for shareholder ratification. The finding is not consistent with the increased price competition predicted by the ACAP. The third essay of my dissertation examine whether the submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification is associated with earnings management. I find that firms that submit auditor selection for shareholder ratification are more likely to have lower level of earnings management. Overall, the results suggest that the same factors that are associated with higher quality monitoring also may be associated with the submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification vote. The results call into question the one-size-fits-all approach recommended by the ACAP.