The Impact of Internal Audit Quality on Financial Reporting Quality in Companies Listed in Tehran Stock Exchange

The Iranian Securities and Exchange Organization has identified the mission of the internal audit unit to provide independent and unbiased assurance and consulting services to enhance the value and improve the operations of the company. Therefore, it has required the members of the Tehran Stock Exchange and Iran Fara Bourse to establish an internal audit unit. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of internal audit quality on the quality of financial reporting and information asymmetry in companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange. The sample consists of 100 companies during the period of 2019. For testing hypotheses, the Structural Equation Modeling is utilized. In this regard, the variable "Internal Audit Quality" is classified into four sections including competence, independence, performance, and other criteria; and the variable "Financial Reporting Quality" is classified into three sections: Reliability, Relevance, and Timeliness, by consideration of "Information Asymmetry” variable, 16 hypotheses are formulated. The results of the study indicate that the "Internal Audit Quality" did not have a significant effect on two variables ("Financial Reporting Quality" and "Information Asymmetry") in companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more serious attention to the quality of internal audit and by selecting appropriate mechanisms, it is provided the further improvement of the quality of the internal audit units.