審計準則54號公報，對被出具責任分攤式查核報告集團財務報表審計品質認知的影響──信用評等機構的觀點

The Impact of No. 54 Auditing Standard on the Audit Quality of the Combined Financial Statements with Shared Audit Report-Perception from Credit Rating Agency

為順應各國重視集團財務報表查核的趨勢，「財團法人中華民國會計研究發展基金會」於2012年發佈審計準則公報第54號「集團財務報表查核之特別考量」（以下稱54號公報）取代行之有年的審計準則公報第15號「採用其他會計師之查核工作」（以下稱15號公報）。基於過去國內文獻中發現資本市場對於具「責任分攤式查核報告」企業之認知審計品質較差，54號審計公報針對集團財務報表的查核，作了全面性的修訂。其中對於集團主辦會計師出具責任分攤式查核報告的條件與責任，作了更嚴格的規範，主要目的在減輕責任分攤式查核報告對資本市場審計品質認知之負面影響。因此本研究之主要研究目的為檢視54號公報實施後，責任分攤式查核報告對資本市場審計品質認知之負面影響情形是否獲得改善。實證結果顯示，54號公報實施之後，委外查核的比重對信用評等之負面影響情形確實獲得顯著改善。此外，當比較被出具責任分攤式查核報告的集團企業與未出具責任分攤式查核報告的對照組集團企業之資金成本時，亦發現兩者資金成本差異在54號公報實施後確實有顯著的降低。因此，本研究結果顯示54號公報確實降低資本市場對「責任分攤式查核報告」審計品質之疑慮。

In response to the global trend of emphasis on the auditing of group financial statements, the Accounting Research and Development Foundation for Financial Institutions (ARDF) issued an audit standard, Statement of Standard No. 54 ''Special Considerations for Audits of Group Financial Statements'' (SAS No. 54) to replaces the Statement of Standard No. 15, ''Accounting for Audits Using Other Accountants'' and implemented in 2015. According to the past related literature, companies with shared audit reports issued exhibit poor financial report audit quality. This new standard (SAS No. 54) is aimed to resolve this issue by setting up more restrictive standards and obligation for the engaging auditor to issue shared audit reports. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to examine whether SAS No.54 can mitigate the negative impact of shared audit reports on capital market's perceived audit quality, which is measured by the credit rating or the weighted average cost of new loans in the current year. The empirical results show that negative impact of firm's shared audit proportion on firm's credit rating is mitigated after the introduction of SAS No.54. In addition, the difference in weighted average cost of new loan between firms with shared audit reports and their matched counterparts (without shared audit reports) is significantly reduced after the introduction of SAS No.54. The above empirical findings tend to suggest that, through more restrictive standards and obligation for engaging auditors to issue shared audit report, SAS No.54 can effectively mitigate the capital market's concerns about the audit quality of shared audit report.