關鍵查核事項是否傳達營運風險與影響管理決策？存貨及應收款項觀點

Do Key Audit Matters Convey Operational Risks and Influence Managerial Decision-Making? Perspectives on Inventory and Accounts Receivable

本文以存貨及應收帳款為例，探討關鍵查核事項(KAM)是否確能傳遞企業重大營運風險，以及會計師對關鍵查核事項之報導，是否影響企業管理當局後續之營運決策。根據台灣上市櫃公司（不含金融業）2016年至2023年之資料分析，實證結果發現，當公司被報導存貨（應收款項）關鍵查核事項時，當期會有顯著較低之存貨週轉率（應收帳款週轉率），與較高之存貨減損（應收帳款減損），支持會計師對KAM之報導確實與企業營運風險有關，而非會計師報導實務之從眾現象。此外，本文也發現當公司被報導特定項目KAM，次一期間相關資產（存貨或應收帳款）經營績效之改善程度顯著高於未被報導KAM之企業，研究支持KAM之報導，具有督促企業改善相關資產管理績效之效果。本文之其他分析發現我國會計師對存貨與應收帳款KAM之報導雖然具有重複性，然仍與企業之營運風險顯著相關，且持續報導KAM對企業之經營管理績效仍具提升效果。橫斷面分析亦顯示本文結果十分穩定，並不受產業波動程度、企業競爭力與信用風險等變數之影響。

Using inventory and accounts receivable as primary examples, this paper investigates whether Key Audit Matters (KAM) effectively convey significant corporate operational risks and whether the reporting of KAM influences the subsequent operational decisions. Based on empirical data analysis of listed companies in Taiwan (excluding the financial industry) from 2016 to 2023, the empirical results reveal that when a company’s inventory (or accounts receivable) is reported as a KAM, there is a significantly lower inventory turnover ratio (or accounts receivable turnover ratio) and a higher inventory impairment (or accounts receivable impairment) during the same period, supporting the notion that KAM reporting in Taiwan is indeed related to operational risks. Additionally, the study finds that when a company has a specific item reported as a KAM, the improvement in the operational performance of the related asset (inventory or accounts receivable) in the subsequent period is significantly greater than that of companies not reported with KAM. This supports the idea that KAM reporting plays a role in encouraging companies to improve the management performance of related assets. Additional analysis reveals that while the reporting of inventory and accounts receivable KAMs by auditors in Taiwan exhibits signs of“rigidity”(persistence), it remains significantly correlated with operational risks. Furthermore, the continuous reporting of KAMs still has an incremental effect on enhancing corporate management performance. The results of cross-sectional research show that the results of this study are highly robust and are not influenced by variables such as industry volatility, corporate competitiveness, or credit risk.