Factors affecting the delay in submitting the audit report from three dimensions of audit, corporate governance and company specific factors

Accounting information is provided to users in the form of financial reports. This information must be provided in a timely manner in order to be useful in decision making. this article investigated the factors affected on delay in the audit report in three categories of factors related to the auditor and the audit, factors related to corporate governance characteristics and factors related to specific characteristics of the company.In order to investigate the effect of the three factors affecting the delay in the audit report data of 106 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the period 1390-1396 and a total of 742 observations were analyzed.The results show that the size and expertise of the auditing firm reduce the delay in submitting the audit report and conditional comment, fee and continuity of the auditor selection and the weakness of internal controls, increase the delay in submitting the audit report. The audit committee's expertise also reduces the concentration of ownership and the size of the board of directors as factors related to corporate governance characteristics. The complexity and size of the company, the presentation of financial statements and financial leverage also increase the delay in submitting the audit report, and profitability and the ratio of market value to book value make the audit report more timely.Companies should improve their internal control system and their audit quality for timely financial reporting. Furthermore, enhances the corporate governance could increase timely financial reporting.