Operating Cash Flow Manipulation and Auditor's Opinion: The Moderator Role of Internal Control and Audit Firms Ranking

Operating cash flow is considered as a performance indicator for users, which provides complete information about the operational positon of the company. However, management may manipulate the information of operating cash flows in order to achieve its goals. Therefore, there is a need for an auditor to review and monitor information. Auditors provide an modified opinion by conforming the financial statements to the accounting standards and discovering this manipulation. Also, the presence of top-ranked auditors and the existence of strong internal control lead to stronger supervision in the company and intensify this relationship. Due to the importance of this issue and the lack of research, this study deals with the management of the operational cash flow and the auditor's opinion, by emphasis on the moderator role of the internal control and the audit firm ranking. In this regard, a sample including 130 companies listed to the Tehran Stock Exchange was selected. Examining the results of the multiple regression test showed that companies that perform more operational cash flow manipulation face more audit modified reports. Also, the presence of the first-ranked audit firms in the company leads to the intensification of the management of the operational cash flow and themodified audit report. However,  internal control in the company is not able to influence the relationship between management of operating cash flow and audit report.