會計師輪調對關鍵查核事項揭露的影響

The Impacts of Audit Partner Rotation on the Disclosure of Key Audit Matters

為與國際接軌及提供報告使用者更多查核攸關資訊，我國自2016年起要求上市（櫃）公司，於查核報告中溝通關鍵查核事項（key audit matters，以下簡稱KAM）。KAM的揭露及內容，需仰賴會計師的專業判斷；而會計師輪調則為影響其查核經驗、產業了解及專業判斷的重要因素。本研究探討會計師輪調及繼任會計師之產業專精，對於KAM揭露之影響。研究結果顯示，相較於未輪調之公司，當年度輪調公司之KAM揭露品質較佳。而當年度輪調的公司中，從非產業專精會計師輪調至產業專精會計師者，能有顯著較佳的KAM揭露品質。在各項KAM揭露品質指標中，會計師輪調對於能提供適切標題，和內容能更針對個別公司營運狀況而非僅說明一般企業皆會面臨現象之正面影響，是較為顯著的。而輪調為產業專精會計師的公司，其KAM則顯著較能索引至財務報表相關揭露，並能辨認和揭露較多項目的KAM。

To align more closely with international standards and augment the relevance of information in audit reports, Taiwan mandated listed companies to include key audit matters (KAM) in their audit reports from 2016. The quality of KAM disclosure is heavily influenced by auditors’professional judgment. Audit rotation is one critical factor affecting auditors’audit experience, industry knowledge, and professional judgment. Thus, this study explores the impacts of audit partner rotation and the industry specialization of successor auditors on the quality of KAM disclosure. The results show that companies undergoing auditor rotation display enhanced KAM disclosure quality in the year of rotation when compared to those that do not rotate auditors. Moreover, for rotated companies, those who rotate from non-industry-specialist auditors to industry-specialist ones demonstrate a significant improvement in KAM disclosure quality. The improvement is particularly evident in the provision of suitable titles and contents that truly reflect the essence of KAM disclosure, tailored to the specific operational circumstances of each company rather than merely reflecting broader industry trends. In addition, companies that rotate to industry-specialist auditors demonstrate superior proficiency in integrating KAM disclosures with relevant financial statement-related disclosures and in identifying and disclosing a broader range of KAM items.