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An Incomplete Audit at the Earnings Announcement: Implications for Financial Reporting Quality and the Market's Response to Earnings†

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  • Nathan T. Marshall
  • Joseph H. Schroeder
  • Teri Lombardi Yohn

Abstract

There has been a substantial increase, since 2004, in the number of firms that announce annual earnings before audit completion as opposed to after audit completion. In this study, we argue that earnings announced before audit completion are associated with lower financial reporting quality and investor perceptions that earnings are more likely to be overstated. Consistent with this expectation, we document that the market places more (less) weight on good (bad) earnings news for earnings announced after audit completion relative to earnings announced before audit completion. We continue to find this differential market response when we expand the returns window to include the 10‐K filing date, suggesting that the differential response is not driven by investors' temporary concerns about earnings revisions between the earnings announcement and the 10‐K filing date or by differential GAAP disclosures in the earnings announcement, as suggested in prior research. Finally, as a direct test of financial reporting quality, we show that earnings announced with a completed audit are less likely to be restated in the future, are less likely to meet or beat expectations, and are associated with fewer income‐increasing discretionary accruals than those announced with an incomplete audit. Audit inachevé au moment de l'annonce des résultats : répercussions sur la qualité de l'information financière et sur la réaction du marché aux résultats Depuis 2004, le nombre de sociétés qui annoncent leurs résultats annuels avant que l'audit ne soit achevé, par rapport à celles qui le font une fois l'audit achevé, a sensiblement augmenté. Selon les auteurs, les résultats annoncés avant que l'audit ne soit achevé sont associés à une qualité inférieure de l'information financière et à la perception, chez les investisseurs, que les résultats sont davantage susceptibles d’être surestimés. Conformément à cette hypothèse, les auteurs documentent le fait que le marché accorde plus (moins) de poids aux bonnes (mauvaises) nouvelles relatives aux résultats lorsque ces derniers sont annoncés une fois l'audit achevé que lorsqu'ils le sont avant que l'audit ne soit achevé. Les auteurs continuent d'observer cette différence dans la réaction du marché lorsqu'ils étendent l'intervalle des rendements de manière à inclure la date de production des formulaires 10‐K, ce qui semble indiquer que la différence dans la réaction n'est pas tributaire des préoccupations ponctuelles des investisseurs au sujet des révisions de résultats entre l'annonce des résultats et la date de production des formulaires 10‐K ou des informations différentielles conformes aux PCGR dans les annonces de résultats, comme l'ont laissé entendre de précédentes études. Enfin, les auteurs, évaluant directement la qualité de l'information financière, montrent que les résultats sont moins susceptibles de faire l'objet d'un retraitement ultérieur, qu'ils sont moins susceptibles d'atteindre ou d'excéder les attentes et qu'ils sont associés à un moins grand nombre d'ajustements discrétionnaires entraînant une hausse du résultat lorsqu'ils sont annoncés une fois l'audit achevé que lorsqu'ils le sont avant que l'audit ne soit achevé.

Suggested Citation

  • Nathan T. Marshall & Joseph H. Schroeder & Teri Lombardi Yohn, 2019. "An Incomplete Audit at the Earnings Announcement: Implications for Financial Reporting Quality and the Market's Response to Earnings†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(4), pages 2035-2068, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:coacre:v:36:y:2019:i:4:p:2035-2068
    DOI: 10.1111/1911-3846.12472
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew B. Jackson, 2022. "Residuals from two‐step research designs," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4345-4358, December.
    2. Florian Kiy & Theresa Zick, 2020. "Effects of declining bank health on borrowers’ earnings quality: evidence from the European sovereign debt crisis," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(4), pages 615-673, May.
    3. Salman Arif & John D. Kepler & Joseph Schroeder & Daniel Taylor, 2022. "Audit process, private information, and insider trading," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 1125-1156, September.
    4. Hyunkwon Cho & Sunhwa Choi & Robert Kim, 2023. "Less timely earnings announcements and voluntary disclosure," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3-4), pages 524-564, March.
    5. Bui, Dien Giau & Chen, Yehning & Chen, Yan-Shing & Lin, Chih-Yung, 2023. "Managerial ability and financial statement disaggregation decisions," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    6. Arif, Salman & Marshall, Nathan T. & Schroeder, Joseph H. & Yohn, Teri Lombardi, 2019. "A growing disparity in earnings disclosure mechanisms: The rise of concurrently released earnings announcements and 10-Ks," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1).
    7. Kimball Chapman & Michael Drake & Joseph H. Schroeder & Timothy Seidel, 2023. "Earnings announcement delays and implications for the auditor-client relationship," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 45-90, March.

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