Audit Committee Effectiveness

Audit Committee Effectiveness
Author: Stuart Turley
Publisher:
Total Pages: 31
Release: 2008
Genre:
ISBN:
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Purpose of this paper - This paper seeks to investigate the conditions and processes affecting the operation and potential effectiveness of audit committees, with particular focus on the interaction between the audit committee, individuals from financial reporting and internal audit functions and the external auditors. Design/methodology/approach - A case study approach is employed, based on direct engagement with participants in audit committee activities, including the audit committee chair, external auditors, internal auditors, and senior management.Findings - We find that informal networks between audit committee participants condition the impact of the audit committee and that the most significant effects of the audit committee on governance outcomes occur outside the formal structures and processes. An audit committee has pervasive behavioural effects within the organization and may be used as a threat, an ally and an arbiter in bringing solutions to issues and conflicts. Audit committees are used in organizational politics, communication processes and power plays and also affect interpretations of events and cultural values. Research limitations/implications - Further research on audit committee and governance processes is needed to develop better understanding of effectiveness. Longitudinal studies, focusing on the organizational and institutional context of audit committee operations, can examine how historical events in an organization and significant changes in the regulatory environment affect current structures and processes.Originality/value - The case analysis highlights a number of significant factors which are not fully recognised either in theorizing the governance role of audit committees or in the development of policy and regulations concerning audit committees but which impinge on their governance contribution. They include (i) the importance of informal processes around the audit committee; (ii) its influence on power relations between organizational participants; (iii) the relevance of the historical development of governance in an organization; (iv) and the possibility that the audit committee's impact on governance may be greatest in non-routine situations.

Audit Committees

Audit Committees
Author: Australian Institute of Company Directors
Publisher: AICD
Total Pages: 56
Release: 2008
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781876604042
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"Role and responsibilities of Audit Subcommittees of Boards. Provides a practical introduction to the role of and responsibilities of the audit committee. Explains the context in which an audit committee typically operates and outlines good practice. Reflects developments in audit committee practice, legislation and gudance from regulatory bodiesand leading global board practices since 2001."--Provided by publisher.

Audit Committees

Audit Committees
Author: Frank M. Burke
Publisher: CCH
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2008-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780808091646
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CEO Power, Internal Control Quality, and Audit Committee Effectiveness in Substance Vs. in Form

CEO Power, Internal Control Quality, and Audit Committee Effectiveness in Substance Vs. in Form
Author: Ling Lei Lisic
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre:
ISBN:
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During the past decade, new regulations have been adopted to improve audit committee effectiveness. Prior research has generally provided evidence in support of these regulations and suggests that a more independent and expert audit committee is more effective. We posit that CEO power reduces or even eliminates the improvements in audit committee effectiveness resulting from independent and financially expert committee members. Thus, CEO power may result in an audit committee that appears effective in form but is not in substance. We construct a composite index for CEO power by combining ten CEO characteristics and employ the incidence of internal control weaknesses as a proxy for audit committee monitoring quality. Since all of the firms in our sample have completely independent audit committees, we use financial expertise to examine the impact of CEO power on audit committee effectiveness. We find that, when CEO power is low, audit committee financial expertise is negatively associated with the incidence of internal control weaknesses. However, as CEO power increases, this association monotonically weakens. When CEO power reaches a sufficiently high level, this association is no longer negative. The moderating effect of CEO power on audit committee effectiveness is more prominent when the CEO extracts more rents from the firm through insider trading. Our results are not driven by the CEO's involvement in director selection. Our paper suggests that more expert audit committees in form do not automatically translate into more effective monitoring. Rather, the substantive monitoring effectiveness of audit committees is contingent on CEO power.

Rising from the Mailroom to the Boardroom

Rising from the Mailroom to the Boardroom
Author: Bruce Turner
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 483
Release: 2021-08-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000413128
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Boards and business leaders expect their key advisors to deliver fresh insights, and increasingly expect them to demonstrate foresight. To achieve what is expected, it is crucial to understand the dynamics of conversations in the boardroom and around the audit committee table. This book provides those unique perspectives. The journey from the ‘mailroom to the boardroom’ follows the story of a young banker who moved into the internal auditing profession as part of the ‘new breed’, then rose through the ranks into senior leadership and chief audit executive roles, before assuming audit committee and board roles that had an immense influence on governance, risk, compliance, and audit professionals. Success does not always follow a smooth and uneventful trajectory, and this story reflects insights from both the ups and the downs of the journey. Each chapter shares insights, better practices, case studies, practical examples, and real-life challenges and draws them together into 101 building blocks, each one providing crucial career-long learnings. The storytelling provides insights to people at all levels on the importance of positioning oneself to step into leadership roles, helps them understand how to evaluate and pursue potential career growth opportunities, provides tips on how to holistically manage and advance their career, and inspires higher-level thinking that enhances governance, risk, compliance and audit practices.

Audit Committee Essentials

Audit Committee Essentials
Author: Curtis C. Verschoor
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2008-04-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0470337079
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Praise for Audit Committee Essentials "Audit Committee Essentials is an excellent and comprehensive resource, documented with key references and illustrated with real-life company examples for all types of commercial and nonprofit enterprises. Dr. Verschoor brings into focus the intertwined impact of risk management, internal controls, and ethics on oversight responsibilities for both the audit committee and the entire board of directors. From my personal perspective as an audit committee member and as a director of both profit and nonprofit entities, this book should be required reading for corporate management, boards of directors, and their committees." --George K. Gill, Chairman and CEO of PetAg, Inc.; Director and member of the Investment and Audit Committees of the United Methodist Foundation of Northern Illinois "Maintaining the highest ethical standards is critical to the success of not-for-profits in today's world. Dr. Verschoor's book provides a practical, highly prescriptive approach to ensuring that governance processes meet the highest expectations of managers, employees, volunteers, contributors, and other stakeholders. I am very impressed with the readability of the book. It definitely raises one's awareness of the need for a thought-out plan that ensures strong financial and ethical credibility." --John S. Maxson, President and CEO Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, Chicago, Illinois A concise and readable account of the audit committee's roles and responsibilities The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has changed the way all corporations now operate, regardless of size. In Audit Committee Essentials, goverance expert Curtis Verschoor explains with great detail and razor-sharp precision why internal control is so critical, emphasizing financial literacy, a requirement under Sarbanes-Oxley, as well as oversight of the financial reporting process and related controls, ethics and the internal and independent audits. Written for seasoned professionals as well as newly assigned board members, Audit Committee Essentials is a vital tool in order to stay abreast of the rapidly changing governance requirements and responsibilities of audit committees.

The Audit Committee Handbook

The Audit Committee Handbook
Author: Louis Braiotta, Jr.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2010-02-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0470616075
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The Audit Committee Handbook, Fifth Edition The Audit Committee Handbook, Fifth Edition guides you to: Understand the role and responsibilities of the audit committee with a general update and reality check on auditing cycle activities Identify the developments that impact audit committee practices and the most current techniques and strategies for committee meetings Develop a repertoire of effective strategies to help the board of directors discharge its fiduciary responsibility to shareholders Prepare a periodic assessment of professional development activities and an informed review of both audit processes and financial reporting processes A must-have for all audit committee members, board directors, corporate secretaries, CEOs, CFOs, and auditors involved in the accounting practices of their firms, The Audit Committee Handbook, Fifth Edition is the most authoritative work on audit committees in the marketplace.

The Audit Committee: Performing Corporate Governance

The Audit Committee: Performing Corporate Governance
Author: Laura F. Spira
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 191
Release: 2007-05-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 030647655X
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Why do we need to understand audit committees? The Cadbury Committee recommended that UK companies should adopt them in response to financial scandals that have stemmed from dubious financial reporting practices. In other countries, similar commissions have made similar recommendations and audit committees are now a common institution. However, many practitioners doubt whether an audit committee really does much to ensure the integrity of a firm's financial statements because, as outsiders, members don't know enough to dig deeply beneath the numbers. The Audit Committee: Performing Corporate Governance argues that such criticism overlooks the ceremonial function of these committees. The audit committee is an arena where members can form and strengthen shifting and fragmentary networks with each other and with the external auditors. Within these networks, both consensus and independence are demonstrated, generating comfort, which legitimises the company and maintains its access to external sources of capital. The audit committee is a key part of the corporate governance structure within an organisation. Many in the UK have been patched together to meet regulatory requirements and their operation is poorly understood because few people other than their members have access to their deliberations. In this account of the world of audit committees the practitioner will find the ethnographical perspectives on ceremonial performance, consensus, independence, and comfort both familiar and different. It's like looking at a photograph of something commonplace from an unusual angle or through a strange-shaped lens.