訴訟風險與會計師關鍵查核事項之揭露

為提升查核報告的透明度及可靠性，臺灣上市櫃公司會計師，自2016年起需於其查核報告中揭露關鍵查核事項。過去文獻指出，會計師之關鍵查核事項揭露，與其訴訟風險有關。就會計師法律責任觀點而言，當面臨較高的訴訟風險，會計師是否會於其查核報告中，以更詳細的關鍵查核事項內容因應？為探討此議題，本研究以2016至2021年我國上市櫃公司為研究對象，探討訴訟風險對會計師關鍵查核事項揭露之影響；預期當面對較高訴訟風險時，會計師於關鍵查核事項揭露的項目數與字數，會較低訴訟風險時來的多。實證結果發現，訴訟風險與會計師於關鍵查核事項段中揭露之項目數及所使用之總字數，皆呈顯著正相關；顯示，會計師於關鍵查核事項段所溝通內容之詳細度，與其所面對之訴訟風險有關。

To improve the transparency and reliability of audit reports, auditors of listed companies in Taiwan have been required to disclose key audit matters (KAM) in their audit reports since 2016. Previous studies suggested that the disclosure of KAM is related to auditors’litigation. From the perspective of auditors’legal liability, when facing higher litigation risks, will auditors respond with more detailed communication of KAM in their audit reports? This study takes listed companies in Taiwan from 2016 to 2021 as sample to measure litigation risk to explores the association between auditors’litigation risk and their disclosure of KAM. The empirical results show that there is a significant positive correlation between the litigation risk and the number of items disclosed and the total number of words used in the KAM paragraph.