Article2014

Boundary spanning and gatekeeping roles of UK audit committees

VIVIEN A. BEATTIE · Stella Fearnley · Tony Hines

29 citations0/0 files storedAccounting and Business Research

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Auditing, Earnings Management, Governance Corporate Finance and Governance Corporate Governance and Financial Management

Abstract

Post-financial crisis, audit committee (AC) reforms are proposed to improve the quality of financial reporting.†† 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.

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References

1976Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure 1985Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness 2003Boards of Directors and Firm Performance: Integrating Agency and Resource Dependence Perspectives 2008The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins 2003Boards of Directors and Firm Performance: Integrating Agency and Resource Dependence Perspectives 1977Boundary Spanning Roles and Organization Structure 2002The Competent Boundary Spanner 2009The Audit Committee Oversight Process*

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2017The Audit Committee as an Interactive Process: Insights on the AC Chairperson’s Power 2021Does shared tenure between audit committee chair and engagement partner affect audit outcomes? Evidence from the UK 2021The role of audit committee chair tenure—A German perspective

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