新冠肺炎疫情初期及後期對查核期間與客戶盈餘管理之影響

The Effect of Early and Late COVID-19 Crisis Period on Audit Timelag and Firms’Earnings Management

本文探討新冠肺炎疫情初期及後期對於會計師查核期間與受查客戶盈餘管理程度的影響。查核期間的分析結果顯示，設有海外子公司之企業，其疫情初期2019年年報查核期間顯著較2018年長，疫情後期2020年年報查核期間並未與疫情前2018年有顯著差異，而2021年年報查核期間顯著較2018年短。另一方面，未設有海外子公司的企業，其疫情初期2019年年報查核期間與2018年並無顯著差異，疫情後期2021年年報查核期間反而顯著較2018年短。盈餘管理的分析結果顯示，設有海外子公司之企業，其疫情初期2019年及疫情後期2020年年報裁決性應計數顯著較2018年上升，而疫情後期2021年年報裁決性應計數並未與2018年有顯著差異。另一方面，未設有海外子公司的企業，其疫情初期2019年及疫情後期2020年年報裁決性應計數與2018年並無顯著差異，疫情後期2021年年報裁決性應計數反而顯著較2018年下降。實證結果顯示疫情爆發初期確實造成設有海外子公司之查核工作受限而對財務報表之及時性及企業盈餘管理程度有負面影響，然而隨著會計師事務所發展在疫情下的查核策略，該影響於後續期間已不復見。此結果可供主管機關與會計師界參考。

This study examines the impact of the early and late COVID-19 crisis periods on audit report timelag and firms’earnings management. The empirical results reveal that, for companies with foreign subsidiaries, the audit report dates in 2019 are significantly later than those in 2018, but there is no significant difference in the timelag of audit reports between 2020 and 2018. Furthermore, the audit report dates in 2021 are significantly earlier than those in 2018 for these companies. Conversely, for companies without foreign subsidiaries, there is no significant difference in the timelag of audit reports between 2019 and 2018. Additionally, the timelag of audit reports in 2021 is significantly shorter than that in 2018 for these companies. The analysis of earnings management indicates a significant increase in discretionary accruals from 2018 to 2019 and 2020 for companies with foreign subsidiaries. However, there is no significant difference in discretionary accruals between 2021 and 2018. Conversely, for companies without foreign subsidiaries, there is no significant difference in discretionary accruals between 2018 and 2019 or 2020. Nevertheless, there is a significant decrease in discretionary accruals from 2018 to 2021 for these companies. Empirical results indicate that companies with foreign subsidiaries have longer audit timelag and a higher level of earnings management in the early COVID-19 crisis period. However, these firms experience a shorter audit lag and engage in less earnings management after audit firms develop new audit strategies to respond to COVID-19-imposed disruptions of audit process and practices in the late COVID-19 crisis period. The results of this study provide valuable insights for regulatory authority and auditing practices.