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Boundary spanning and gatekeeping roles of UK audit committees

Author

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  • Vivien Beattie
  • Stella Fearnley
  • Tony Hines

Abstract

Post-financial crisis, audit committee (AC) reforms are proposed to improve the quality of financial reporting. -super-† † The editorial process for this paper was undertaken by Pauline Weetman, former ABR editor. This paper's empirical contribution is to investigate the extent to which ACs and audit committee chairs (ACCs) engage with chief financial officers (CFOs) and audit partners (APs) across a range of 32 financial reporting issues. It is the first large-scale survey of interactions to move beyond the micro-CFO/AP dyad and to distinguish the individual ACC from the AC group. While 37% of the 5445 reported discussions involve all three key individuals together with the full AC, 35% involve neither the AC nor the ACC and the ACC acts without the full AC in a significant minority of cases. The parties reported to be involved are similar across the three respondent groups but vary with financial reporting issue, company size and audit firm size. The paper's theoretical contribution is to interpret the evidence using the concepts of boundary spanning and gatekeeping roles. The research reveals incomplete levels of AC and ACC engagement with financial reporting issues. Findings have implications for policy-makers regarding the role, influence and effectiveness of the AC in financial reporting matters. Directions for future research are identified.

Suggested Citation

  • Vivien Beattie & Stella Fearnley & Tony Hines, 2014. "Boundary spanning and gatekeeping roles of UK audit committees," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(3), pages 315-343, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:44:y:2014:i:3:p:315-343
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2014.898434
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    Cited by:

    1. Habiba Al‐Shaer & Mahbub Zaman, 2018. "Credibility of sustainability reports: The contribution of audit committees," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 973-986, November.
    2. Alhababsah, Salem & Alhaj-Ismail, Alaa, 2023. "Does shared tenure between audit committee chair and engagement partner affect audit outcomes? Evidence from the UK," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    3. Brennan, Niamh M., 2021. "Connecting earnings management to the real World:What happens in the black box of the boardroom?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(6).
    4. Niamh M. Brennan & Collette E. Kirwan, 2015. "Audit committees: practices, practitioners and praxis of governance," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(4), pages 466-493, May.
    5. Dobija Dorota, 2019. "Institutionalizing Corporate Governance Reforms in Poland: External Auditors’ Perspective," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 27(3), pages 28-54, September.
    6. Saeed Rabea Baatwah & Adel Ali Al-Qadasi, 2020. "Determinants of outsourced internal audit function: a further analysis," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(4), pages 629-659, December.

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